Clemson ranks 33rd on Business Journal’s list of top public colleges

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson University landed a place in The Business Journal’s elite list of America’s 40 best public colleges and universities. Based on 19 categories, the university took 33^rd place out of 484 four-year public institutions and was ranked the highest among South Carolina colleges and universities.

All raw data used in the study were obtained from the National Center for Education Statistics and the five-year version of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey. The rates and percentages were calculated by The Business Journals. The latest college rankings by Forbes, Kiplinger’s, U.S. News and World Report and Washington Monthly were considered when conducting the prestige ratings.

The following 19 factors determined the overall score for each public university or college:

• Admission rate;
• Admission test score at the 25^th percentile;
• Admission test score at the 75^th percentile;
• Retention rate;
• Four-year graduation rate;
• Six-year graduation rate;
• Rankings by Forges, Kiplinger’s, U.S.News and World Report and Washington Monthly;
• Quality-affordability ratio;
• Average net price for full-time undergraduates receiving grants or scholarships;
• Median monthly off-campus rent;
• Share of undergraduates with out-of-state addresses;
• Racial diversity of student body;
• Racial diversity of faculty;
• Gender diversity of student body;
• Gender diversity of faculty;
• Share of young adults;
• Unemployment rate for young adults;
• Share of young adults with bachelor’s degrees; and
• Share of local jobs that are classified as management, business, science or arts jobs

Each school’s statistics were then compared to the averages for the corresponding factors within the entire study group. For more information about the methodology of the rankings, visit The Business Journal’s website.