Guide ranks PSU high on its Best Bang for the Buck list

  Wednesday, March 18, 2015 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

According to the Washington Monthly, students at Pittsburg State University are getting a pretty good deal. The publication’s newest College Guide ranks PSU as No. 10 on its “Best Bang for the Buck” list of 403 colleges and universities in the Midwest.

According to the Washington Monthly, its rankings, which it has compiled in a book, “The Other College Guide,” attempt to “rate schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.Ds), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).”

The researchers, Paul Glastris and Jane Sweetland, wrote that their approach was different from the many other college guides now available.

“The guide ranks schools based on the best available data on what really matters: which schools will charge you a fair price and not bury you in debt? Which help students graduate? Which provide degrees that allow you to earn a decent income?” the editors wrote.

For its “Best Bang for the Buck” list, the guide considered factors such as the percentage of students receiving Pell grants, the net price for families of varying income levels, ACT/SAT scores, student loan default rates, graduation rates and the percentage of applicants admitted.

“It’s a different way of looking at universities than we see from some other rankings,” said Lee Young, PSU’s associate vice president for enrollment and student success. “It speaks to the university’s long history of striving to make high quality academic programs available to families at a cost that is affordable.”

To see the entire list and more information, visit http://theothercollegeguide.com/.