Magazine says URI beats Ivies for return investments, No. 15 rank

By: Chris Curtis

Posted: 6/13/09

Summer 2009 - Think you would have been better off attending a pricier private college or aiming for the Ivies? Think again!

SmartMoney magazine, a monthly publication of the Wall Street Journal, recently ranked the University of Rhode Island no. 15 in the nation for return on investment.

The magazine conducted a study of educational institutions nation-wide, weighing the cost of education versus graduates' earning power later in life, and published its findings in a January article titled "The Best Colleges For Making Money."

The Ivy Leagues did not do well, all falling well below URI and many other public institutions. Harvard came in at No. 25, and Princeton did little better.

In fact, URI was listed as the highest ranked public or private institution in New England, beating out the state universities of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

"Those unheralded public universities turn out to be a far better deal than virtually all the privates we surveyed," wrote Neil Parmar, author of the article. "The Ivies in general? They deliver nowhere near the payback on tuition that most parents staring at a six-figure bill over four years might expect."

That is not to say that a public school graduate can expect a salary as high as what a graduate of an expensive private school might make, but they come out on top once the initial tuition investment is factored in, according to the article.

The magazine based its rankings on tuition costs reported by schools and on pay information obtained through PayScale.com, a site that compiles compensation data for researchers and employers.

Robert Weygand, vice president of administration at URI, said that he was "delightfully surprised" to see the results of the survey.

"I'm just so high on the University of Rhode Island," Weygand said. "I think we're at this stage where people are looking at URI and saying, 'this is not the old URI, this is a special place, and it's getting better and better."

Weygand cites the recent opening of the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences as an example of the university continuing to grow despite tough financial times.

Weygand attributes the success of URI graduates to the university's focus on experiential learning, as well as to the drive of its students.

"I think a lot of the students who come here to the University of Rhode Island come from a background where they may be going to school, working at the same time. They know what it is that they want to accomplish on the outside, and this university prepares them well for that," Weygand said.

Bobbi Koppel, director of career services, also attributes the ranking largely to the quality of the students.

"One of the things that we hear from employers who come here is that students here at URI are very, very well qualified ... and we have employers who come here year after year after year," Koppel said. "The reason they come is because they have URI alums working at their place of employment and they want more of them."

Vice President of Student Affairs Thomas Dougan said he was not surprised to see URI ranked above the Ivies.

"Frankly it's not surprising, we have always believed that students attending the University of Rhode Island get a great education ... as good an education as you get anywhere," Dougan said.

"I've talked to a lot of faculty over time, people who've taught at URI, who've taught at Brown, and they say over and over and over that our students are just as good as the kids at Brown University," he said.

Also unphased by the university's high ranking was sophomore Sarah Morgan.

"I live in-state, so it's a pretty good tuition," Morgan explained. The education would still be a good investment even at the substantially higher out-of-state tuition, she said.

"You need the degree to really get a good job, so I feel like it would still be a good investment."

Out-of-state sophomore Dana Lagravinese said she was surprised to hear that URI had received such a high ranking.

"Yes, I guess because we pay so much for tuition, especially out of state," Lagravinese said, but added that the education is what you make of it.

Shawn Lavallee, an in-state student working toward a master's degree in accounting, also expressed some amazement, but said he felt that he was being prepared well for his future career.

"I wasn't expecting the return on investment to be so high because other schools promise better connections, like Bryant, that's probably the reason why they pay so much to go there," Lavallee said.

Parmar points out in his article that rating colleges is not an exact science, and admits that the study has received criticism from private schools that claim the study underestimated them for various reasons.

First in the ranking was Texas A&M, up from second place following the University of Georgia's admission that it had "inadvertently provided some incorrect information about its tuition."