Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has released A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges. The report ranks higher education institutions by return on investment—both short and long term—based on data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
One of the primary findings in the report? Bachelor’s degrees from private colleges, on average, have a higher ROI than degrees from public colleges 40 years after enrollment.
Among other private Georgia colleges, Oglethorpe ranked 8th among 29 for 40-year NPV (net present value)—or how much a sum of money in the future is valued today. In fact, Oglethorpe ranked in the top 10 for all time horizons, including 10, 15, 20 and 30-year ROI. The report considers long-term NPV at the 40-year horizon “to be the most comprehensive benchmark for judging value.”
Georgetown calculated institutions’ ROI using data on the average net price and salary/earnings as collected by the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.