Clemson University ranks high in return-on-investment survey

CLEMSON, SC – August 16, 2011 – When SmartMoney Magazine looked at 50 of the nation’s top colleges and universities to see whose graduates get the best return on their tuition dollars, Clemson University ranked No. 6.

Clemson ranked higher than all of the Ivy League schools and higher than some of the public universities that typically are at the top of the U.S.News & World Report rankings.

The magazine’s annual “payback” survey, headlined “Colleges That Help Grads Get Top Salaries,” examined 50 schools at the high end of the cost spectrum based on out-of-state tuition rates: the eight Ivy League colleges, other private schools and public universities.

With help from the compensation-data company PayScale, the magazine collected median pay figures for the schools’ recent graduates as well as mid-career alumni. The return-on-investment, or “payback” ratio, was based on the assumption that all the graduates paid full out-of-state tuition rates

“It’s admittedly an imperfect bit of math,” the magazine acknowledged, noting that it doesn’t take into account financial aid or intangible factors that can make any education more valuable.

“This is another indication of the value of a Clemson University degree,” said Robert Barkley, Clemson’s director of admissions. “For our South Carolina students, and especially those who receive scholarships like the state’s Palmetto Fellows and LIFE scholarships, clearly the value is even greater.”

Last fall, every one of Clemson’s incoming freshmen from South Carolina received a scholarship averaging $7,902, which meant the average in-state freshman paid just 32 percent of the in-state tuition “sticker price.”