AC Online ranks URI No. 37 in nation for return on investment

THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND offers grads a $268,600 return on investment, according to a recent report by Affordable Colleges Online. The return, based on annual Payscale.com survey data, earned URI the No. 37 spot on the Affordable Colleges Online ranking of the top 50 colleges in the U.S. in terms of highest return on investment. / COURTESY THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND offers grads a $268,600 return on investment, according to a recent report by Affordable Colleges Online. The return, based on annual Payscale.com survey data, earned URI the No. 37 spot on the Affordable Colleges Online ranking of the top 50 colleges in the U.S. in terms of highest return on investment. / COURTESY THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

(Updated, Dec. 12, 3:34 p.m.)

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has placed at No. 37 on the Affordable Colleges Online ranking of the top 50 colleges in the United States in terms of highest return on investment.

Schools included on the Affordable Colleges Online ranking were four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities, both public and private, with full accreditation and in-state tuition totaling less than $40,000 for four years. Affordable Colleges Online calculated each school’s average 30-year net return on investment using annual Payscale.com survey data.

At No. 37, URI boasts a $268,600 return on investment, just below the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with $270,200 and just above the University of Maryland-Baltimore County with $266,600. The average starting salary of a URI graduate is $44,700, according to Affordable Colleges Online.

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The George Institute of Technology placed first in the top 50 ranking, with a return investment of $836,000.

Alongside the university’s ranking, Affordable Colleges Online noted that URI “offers the cutting-edge research, discovery and experiences typically found at much larger institutions, alongside the friendly, student-centered atmosphere of smaller institutions.”

In 2009 and 2011, The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money magazine ranked URI first in New England for “best return on investment.”

In a separate ranking of high-return Rhode Island colleges – which did not require schools to meet the $40,000 four-year tuition criteria – the University of Rhode Island ranked at No. 4, below Brown University (No. 1), Bryant University (No. 2) and Providence College (No. 3). Affordable Colleges Online estimated the Brown University return on investment at $1.1 million.

URI ranked No. 1 in the state for the most affordable online degree program, followed by the New England Institute of Technology at No. 2 and Johnson & Wales University at No. 3.

In Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth placed at No. 7 in the state for online-degree program affordability, and placed at No. 20 for its $698,400 return on investment. Stonehill College in Easton ranked at No. 21 with $637,800 and Wheaton College in Norton ranked at No. 29 with $492,300.

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1 COMMENT

  1. It’s about time the larger universities adopt technology and online learning and great to see URI on the list.

    Also, would be nice if you added the location of the ranking – I had to search for it.