Spring Break
Magazine says URI beats Ivies for return investments, No. 15 rank
Chris Curtis
Issue date: 1/30/09 Section: News
01/30/09 - Think you would have been better off attending a pricier private college or aiming for the Ivies? Think again!
SmartMoney magazine, a monthly publication of the Wall Street Journal, recently ranked the University of Rhode Island no. 15 in the nation for return on investment.
The magazine conducted a study of educational institutions nation-wide, weighing the cost of education versus graduates' earning power later in life, and published its findings in a January article titled "The Best Colleges For Making Money."
The Ivy Leagues did not do well, all falling well below URI and many other public institutions. Harvard came in at No. 25, and Princeton did little better.
In fact, URI was listed as the highest ranked public or private institution in New England, beating out the state universities of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.
"Those unheralded public universities turn out to be a far better deal than virtually all the privates we surveyed," wrote Neil Parmar, author of the article. "The Ivies in general? They deliver nowhere near the payback on tuition that most parents staring at a six-figure bill over four years might expect."
That is not to say that a public school graduate can expect a salary as high as what a graduate of an expensive private school might make, but they come out on top once the initial tuition investment is factored in, according to the article.
The magazine based its rankings on tuition costs reported by schools and on pay information obtained through PayScale.com, a site that compiles compensation data for researchers and employers.
Robert Weygand, vice president of administration at URI, said that he was "delightfully surprised" to see the results of the survey.
"I'm just so high on the University of Rhode Island," Weygand said. "I think we're at this stage where people are looking at URI and saying, 'this is not the old URI, this is a special place, and it's getting better and better."
SmartMoney magazine, a monthly publication of the Wall Street Journal, recently ranked the University of Rhode Island no. 15 in the nation for return on investment.
The magazine conducted a study of educational institutions nation-wide, weighing the cost of education versus graduates' earning power later in life, and published its findings in a January article titled "The Best Colleges For Making Money."
The Ivy Leagues did not do well, all falling well below URI and many other public institutions. Harvard came in at No. 25, and Princeton did little better.
In fact, URI was listed as the highest ranked public or private institution in New England, beating out the state universities of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.
"Those unheralded public universities turn out to be a far better deal than virtually all the privates we surveyed," wrote Neil Parmar, author of the article. "The Ivies in general? They deliver nowhere near the payback on tuition that most parents staring at a six-figure bill over four years might expect."
That is not to say that a public school graduate can expect a salary as high as what a graduate of an expensive private school might make, but they come out on top once the initial tuition investment is factored in, according to the article.
The magazine based its rankings on tuition costs reported by schools and on pay information obtained through PayScale.com, a site that compiles compensation data for researchers and employers.
Robert Weygand, vice president of administration at URI, said that he was "delightfully surprised" to see the results of the survey.
"I'm just so high on the University of Rhode Island," Weygand said. "I think we're at this stage where people are looking at URI and saying, 'this is not the old URI, this is a special place, and it's getting better and better."
