2020 Money Magazine Rankings: TAMU, VMI, Va Tech, and Maine Maritime Ranked Top 100 Colleges in USA.

I thought it was interesting the focus was on tuition costs, family borrowing and career earnings, along with other data points, to determine “best bang for buck.”

No surprise on the maritimes. Relatively lower tuitions and more potential due early higher earnings for those who sail.
 
Year after year numerous Virginia universities show up on the list and UVA is usually the top public university.

We call them the Virginia Ivies for a reason.
 
Money Mag bases a lot of its ranking on net-tuition costs. The Citadel is ranked 87 in this Money Mag ranking of 700+ schools.

Note the prices quoted for public colleges and universities, before grants in aid are for in-state published prices, and the average net is after grants in aid - again for in-state. If they were based on the average of in-state and out-of-state students for public colleges and universities like The Citadel and VMI that have a large ratio of out-of-state cadets, rankings would likely not be as good. I like the Georgetown and Furtune rankings a little better as based on return on investment. And Note in the Money ranking, after the top 10 schools, the average "early career earnings" is pretty similar among the top 100. The Maine Maritime ranking of 90 is an example - higher tuition even though early earnings is much higher than many schools ranked higher.
 
I thought it was interesting the focus was on tuition costs, family borrowing and career earnings, along with other data points, to determine “best bang for buck.”

Agree, Money Magazine’s methodology is interesting. Their value proposition is relevant today due to rapidly rising education costs. Also, some argue that Money’s rankings are less subjective due to their mining methods.
Looking forward to Kiplinger’s ratings, as their data points and methodology are spot-on. Kiplingers also “calls out” colleges that skew their data in order to look better...
 
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Agree, Money Magazine’s methodology is interesting. Their value proposition is relevant today due to rapidly rising education costs. Also, some argue that Money’s rankings are less subjective due to their mining methods.
Looking forward to Kiplinger’s ratings, as their data points and methodology are spot-on. Kiplingers also “calls out” colleges that skew their data in order to look better...
It seems much more applicable to a potential student than the USNWR one that is based as much on reputation and circular arguments as it is on actual quality.
 
It seems much more applicable to a potential student than the USNWR one that is based as much on reputation and circular arguments as it is on actual quality.
You are absolutely correct. In recent years US News has admitted to not verifying data and using questionable peer surveys in their program rankings. Some less-scrupulous colleges are “gaming the system.” Other news sources and publications have become more critical of US News as a result.
US News’ rankings are so flawed that a few years ago (through its reputation-only peer survey program) US News ranked Princeton’s Medical School in the top ten programs in the USA. One problem: Princeton doesn’t have a medical school!
 
Hey Landy you forgot The Citadel as a top 100 school, was that just an 'oversight'?
Conrack, you are correct.
I overlooked both Massachusetts Maritime at #36 and your school at #87. Apologies to all, as they are both outstanding colleges and would be great choices for anyone!
 
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