For the second consecutive year, Washington Monthly Ranks Carlow University Among Its Top 100 Best Bang for the Buck Colleges
| University Communications | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | October 15, 2014 |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Pittsburgh, Pa. –For the second consecutive year, Carlow University cracked the Top 20 privatecolleges and Top 100 overall on WashingtonMonthly’s annual ranking of more than 1,500 colleges that provide the “bestbang for the buck.”
Each year, the publication crafts a list ofthe colleges in America “that do the best job of helping non-wealthy studentsattain marketable degrees at affordable prices.” Only 386 schools out of1,540 colleges and universities considered made the best-bang-for-the-bucklist. Carlow was ranked 95th overall (public, private, for-profit) and 17thamong just the private schools. Notably, Carlow was one of only two schoolsfrom Pennsylvania – and the only regional institution – among the top 100, and oneof only two Catholic schools among the top 20 private schools. The closest Pennsylvaniainstitution, geographically, ranked among the Top 100 is more than 260 milesaway from Pittsburgh.
“We are pleased that Washington Monthly has againconfirmed what we have known about Carlow,” said Suzanne Mellon, PhD, thepresident of Carlow University. “For85 years, it has been Carlow’s mission to provide students with a personalizededucation that prepares them for both today’s jobs and the future with anemphasis on scholarship, leadership, and service to the community.”
To qualify for the rankings, Washington Monthly says that they rate schools based ontheir contribution to the public good in three broad categories: SocialMobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research(producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouragingstudents to give something back to their country).
In an article that accompanied the rankings, RobertKelchen, an assistant professor of higher education in the Department ofEducation Leadership, Management, and Policy at Seton Hall University,described Washington Monthly’s methodology for its list this way:
“To geton our list, colleges have to meet four criteria. First, to make sure theyaren’t just catering to the affluent, at least 20 percent of their studentsmust be receiving Pell Grants, which go to students of modest means (typicallythose with annual household incomes below $50,000). Second, they must have agraduation rate of at least 50 percent—hardly an exacting standard, but a fairone considering that we’re requiring that a fifth of their student body havelower incomes, a demographic that tends to graduate in lower numbers. Third,each school’s actual graduation rate must meet or exceed the rate that would bestatistically predicted for that school given the number of lower-incomestudents admitted (among other things, this calculation assures that schoolswith more than the minimum 20 percent of Pell students aren’t penalized).Fourth, to make sure their graduates are earning enough in the workforce to atleast cover their student loans, schools must have a student loan default rateof 10 percent or less.”
A link to the Washington Monthly’s “2014 Best Bang for the Buck Rankings– All Schools”: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings-2014/best-bang-for-buck-all-schools-rank.php
Earlier this month, Carlow was ranked 69th in thenation by Educate To Career (ETC) in terms ofhelping its students improve their earnings and attain quality employment aftergraduation. Carlow was one of seven schools in Pennsylvania, and the onlyregional institution, listed in the top 100. ETC’s compiled their College Rankings Index by analyzing which universities with more than 1,000 students did the bestjob of helping their students to improve their earnings and attain qualityemployment after graduation. More than 1,200 colleges were surveyed.
### About Carlow University
Located inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercyin 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University isa comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education atthe collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the Campus Schoolof Carlow University.