13 Colleges That Give You The Best Bang For Your Buck
Image by Forward Montage
By Laura E. Adkins August 15, 2018
College is expensive — but it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.
Members of the class of 2016 graduated with almost $40,000 in student loan debt each on average — but not the graduates of these 13 schools.
We understand that costs are an important consideration when picking a college or university for most families, and costs comprised 15% of our Jewish College Guide scoring this year, up from 10% last year. The following 13 schools place an even higher value on affordability — all have a perfect financial score, which is determined by the average pocket cost that students and their parents pay to attend, by the average amount of student loan debt, and by the average median starting salary for graduates.
Each of these schools has an average pocket cost and average student debt amount that falls in the lowest quartile of schools on our list, and those that reported average starting median salary for their graduates saw an impressive average starting salary of $68,037.50.
It’s important to remember that for most of these schools, the average pocket cost does not reflect the typical amount that families pay, but rather that many wealthy students can afford to pay sticker price while less affluent families pay much less. Several colleges on this list are “loan-free schools,” meaning that the neediest students pay nothing at all.
The following list of schools both public and private is presented alphabetically:
California Institute of Technology
Claremont McKenna College
Colgate University
Dartmouth College
Florida International University
Harvard University
Princeton University
San Jose State University
Stanford University
Touro College
University of North Florida
University of South Florida (Tampa)
Williams College
Image by Kurt Hoffman
This article is part of the award-winning Forward College Guide — to read more fascinating stories and see the definitive rankings, click here.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
