Best Colleges – Colleges that Improve Students' Economic Futures – New Jersey Athletic Conference

About

A college degree is one of the biggest investments families will ever make, and a key measure of a college is how well it sets up a student for success post-graduation. While many ranking lists focus on where students start—selectivity, test scores and institutional prestige—this rankings list focuses on results that matter. College Raptor’s ranking of colleges that improve a student’s economic futures evaluates accessibility for low-income households and key post-graduation outcomes, including post-graduation earnings, degree completion rate, and student loan repayment success. The results highlight the strong performance of several public university systems, including the University of California, California State University, and CUNY.

Methodology

Equal weighting was given to following core pillars:

• Lower income and Pell-eligible student accessibility
• Degree completion rates
• Career and earnings outcomes
• Debt burden and repayment

Institutions in the bottom 25% for lower-income accessibility were excluded from the rankings. Post-graduation earnings data was adjusted for local cost of living.