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Oregon Tech Listed Again in Forbes’ Magazine America’s Top Colleges List

08.07.2012

Oregon Institute of Technology was ranked among the best schools in the nation in Forbes’ annual ranking of America’s Top Colleges. These rankings of 650 schools – the top 20 percent of all four-year and graduate universities in the nation – are exclusively prepared for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), a Washington D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder.

According to Forbes, the ranking focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt. Unlike other lists, Forbes emphasizes that they ignore ephemeral measures such as school "reputation." The ranking is achieved by evaluating the college purchase as a consumer: Is it worth spending as much as a quarter of a million dollars for this degree?

The rankings are based on five general categories: Post Graduate Success (32.5 percent), an evaluation of alumni pay and prominence; Student Satisfaction (27.5 percent), including professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore retention rates; Debt (17.5 percent); Four-year graduation rate (11.25 percent); and Competitive Awards (11.25 percent) or prestigious scholarships and fellowships.

Oregon Tech graduates enjoy an outstanding graduate success rate with 90 percent either employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. Graduates also earn an average starting annual salary of $56,000.

According to Oregon Tech President Dr. Chris Maples, "Irrespective of rankings themselves, the five metrics that Forbes uses are very relevant for measuring a university’s success."

In addition to the overall rankings, the Center for College Affordability and Productivity also prepares a "value" ranking, which takes into account the overall cost of each school relative to the quality of education provided.