<p>Good article referenced in WSJ etc. re best ROI for various schools. Good to see our alma mater Midd made the top 100 list. Really close to our NESCAC academic peer institutions: Trinity and Bates.
Average</a> Cost for College - Compare College Costs & ROI</p>
<p>Payscale.com has been criticized time and again for these rankings, which rely on extremely flawed methodology. This survey relies on graduates (sometimes 30 years out of school) responding to a questionnaire asking how much money they make. They never disclose how many alumni responded to their survey (I guess in their minds that’s not statistically significant). I don’t know about you, but if I got a survey asking how much money I make, I wouldn’t respond…</p>
<p>Not to mention that the rankings ignore two extremely important factors. First pay is greatly impacted by the region you choose to live in. If you’re living in VT you’re certainly likely to make less than someone living in NYC - but you may have a much higher standard of living. Second, Middlebury - which has possibly the best environmental studies program in the country, and one of the best international relations programs in the country - puts a lot of alums into those fields, which while very influential, they’re not particularly remunerative. Basically, this is a stupid ranking. I hope Middlebury is not selecting students based on how much they’ll make in the future. I’m grateful I was not surrounded by a lot of Gordon Geckos while I was there (for those of you too young to remember, that’s a reference to the movie, “Wall Street”).</p>