As always, don’t take any rankings as being definitive, but as an interesting view of a school’s performance.
The first is Degreechoices, that bases its rankings of colleges and universities entirely on a “unique” measure of relative financial value. It’s based on the economic return students attending different colleges and universities can expect to receive from their educational investment.
Payback measures how long it takes the average student to recoup the total cost of attending college (after subtracting financial aid) with their marginal earnings. Marginal earnings are the difference between what the average student would have likely earned before attending college and what he or she earns afterwards. This metric is similar to Third Way’s Price-to-Earnings Premium.
EarningsPlus compares student earnings after attending college against a benchmark that Degreechoices adjusts based on two variables that can influence salary comparisons - each school’s program ecology reflecting the unique mix of academic programs it offers and the in-state/out-of-state composition of the student body.
Edit: By the way, they also list the performance of the top 6 programs at UF sorted by number of graduates - General Psychology, Biology, Business Administration, Advertising & PR, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer and Information Sciences.
New US News rankings are out. Seems to be a lot of drama (Private vs Public) due to some changes to the methodology.
UF is ranked #6 among Public Universities (#28 overall). Not surprising, as UF thought they may drop a spot, due to a slight drop in it’s graduation rates.
Breakdown of Outcomes(52%):
Average 6-year graduation rate (16%)
6-year graduation rate of students who received a Pell Grant (3%)
6-year graduation rate of students who did not receive a Pell Grant (3%)
Average first-year student retention rate (5%)
Social Mobility Rank
6-year graduation rate of first generation students (2.5%)
6-year graduation rate of non-first generation students (2.5%)
Predicted graduation rate (10%)
Overperformance(+)/Underperformance(-)
Median federal loan debt for borrowers (5%)
College grads earning more than a HS grad (5%)
You can see how that would “favor” large public research universities (like UF).