Website Degreechoices, which focuses solely on graduates’ return on educational investment after starting their careers, ranks Stanislaus State No. 8 in California on its 2023 list of best colleges.
The website uses a unique methodology that produces economic scores to rank colleges. The scores represent the impact various degrees will have on students’ future salaries and how quickly graduates can expect to recoup their educational expenses because of those incomes.
Degreechoices states its goal is to help students avoid overpaying for college by showing them which schools and degrees are more likely to result in quicker “payback” after they graduate.
To compile its latest Best Colleges in the U.S. list, the website analyzed 2,203 four-year colleges and universities using data from two U.S. Department of Education programs: the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard.
Return on educational investment for a Stan State bachelor’s degree ranked in the top 5 percent of all analyzed schools, with the median Stan State graduate expected to earn $53,964 annually, 10 years after enrolling. The website gives Stan State a “payback” score of 1.1 years.
Degreechoices ranked several Stan State programs for return on investment against other colleges in California. Results include:
- Education: No. 2
- Liberal Arts and Sciences: No. 4
- Criminal Justice: No. 7
- Registered Nursing: No. 7
- Sociology: No. 23
- Business Administration: No. 64
- Education graduate program: No. 37
- Social Work graduate program: No. 39
The website also ranked Stan State No. 13 on its national list of Best Hispanic-Serving Institutions for return on educational investment.
The Degreechoices website allows users to enter schools, programs and degree levels into its website to narrow their searches for specific rankings and other information.
