Money Magazine Ranks Woodbury University 15th Among Nation’s ‘25 Colleges That Add the Most Value’
Los Angeles, Calif. (PRWEB) August 25, 2014 -- Money Magazine has ranked Woodbury University 15th among the nation’s “25 Colleges That Add the Most Value,” the university announced today. Money published its annual college rankings in late July: http://time.com/money/3025341/colleges-that-add-the-most-value-moneys-best-colleges/.
Money evaluated 1,500 four-year colleges using a variety of factors in three equally weighted categories: educational quality, affordability and alumni career earnings. The rankings also include a "value added" grade that rates each college in light of the economic and academic profile of its student body and the mix of majors offered at that school. These “value added” colleges turn out graduates who exceed the averages for their peer groups by the widest margin; factors considered included the percentage of students who complete college and how much alumni typically earn. According to the Money rankings, the university’s graduation rate outperformed its peers by 14 percent.
“The Money Magazine ranking confirms the value proposition that we have offered for decades,” said Luis Maria R. Calingo, Ph.D., Woodbury president. “We take students from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds and transform them into citizens and professionals who can thrive and be competitive in almost any environment. This recognition does not happen by accident. The faculty and staff of Woodbury University are to be commended for working together to deliver our value proposition to our students.”
“It’s not surprising that elite schools have high graduation rates or that their alumni go on to earn a lot of money,” Money’s editors wrote. “Such schools, after all, generally start with high-achieving (and well-to-do) students who have the talent and resources to thrive in almost any environment. We set out to determine which schools actually add the most value, taking into account the economic and academic profiles of the incoming students and, in the case of earnings, the mix of majors at each school.”
The publication’s educational quality category considers graduation rates, the standardized test scores of incoming freshmen, student/faculty ratios and instructor quality, among other things. The affordability category considers the "net price" of a degree, or the estimated amount a typical freshman starting in 2014 will pay to earn a degree, minus discounts and scholarships, and multiplied by the number of years it takes students at each college to graduate. It also factors in how much borrowing and debt the students and parents take on, and the student loan default risk for that college.
About Woodbury University
Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. Woodbury offers bachelor's degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and Institute of Transdisciplinary Studies, along with an MBA program, Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science in Architecture (MSArch), and Master of Organizational Leadership. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Real Estate Development for Architects (MRED), and Master of Science in Architecture, Landscape, and Urbanism degrees. Visit http://www.woodbury.edu for more information, and Reflections on Excellence, a twice-monthly blog written by Woodbury University President Luis Maria R. Calingo, Ph.D.
Shari Gibbons, Woodbury University, +1 818-252-5263, [email protected]
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