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ranked using data on student success, return on investment and alumni influence.
Every year, Forbes spotlights the 500 U.S. colleges that check all the boxes: impressive graduation rates, high graduate salaries, and great outcomes for low-income students, to name a few. Princeton University (#1)—with median early-career salaries north of $88,000 and a 98% six-year graduation rate—aces these criteria. But it’s not just the Ivy League that delivers on the promise of a quality education. More than a dozen public colleges landed in the Top 50, including the University of California, Berkeley (#5); the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (#23); the University of Virginia (#29); and the University of Maryland, College Park (#34). Looking for a college that offers the best return on your investment? Consider one of the City Universities of New York—eight schools in the public New York system offer a high post-graduate earnings boost with a low student debt burden. If a small private college is more your speed, but the private college price tag is not, take a look at Hendrix College (#365) in Arkansas, Berea College (#342) in Kentucky, or Beloit College (#372) in Wisconsin—all schools that offer more than nine in ten of their students significant financial aid awards. For a closer look at our methodology, click here. To learn more about why California public colleges continue to do the best of state schools in rankings, click here.
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