Colorado colleges often fail to score great grades on national surveys.
Last year, just two Colorado institutions made the top thirty in an NPR roster of premier U.S. colleges.
And in recent weeks, we noted that a ranking of America's best public colleges featured just one Colorado school in the top fifty.
So it's a pleasant surprise to discover the top-ten finish of a Colorado college in SmartAsset's new analysis of the schools offering the best value — those that most successfully balance expenses with student aid and starting salaries upon graduation.
Continue to see the photo-illustrated list, featuring SmartAsset data; note that the tuition figures are generally calculated to the charges for in-state students. That's followed by the complete methodology. For more information from SmartAsset, including an interactive map and more, click here.
Number 1: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
City: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Average scholarships and grants: $33,585
Average starting salary: $74,900
College tuition: $43,498
Student living costs: $15,522
Student retention rate: 99 percent
College Education Value Index: 100.00
Number 2: Harvey Mudd College
City: Claremont, California
Average scholarships and grants: $28,001
Average starting salary: $78,200
College tuition: $46,509
Student living costs: $17,351
Student retention rate: 97 percent
College Education Value Index: 94.51
Number 3: California Institute of Technology
City: Pasadena, California
Average scholarships and grants: $29,759
Average starting salary: $72,600
College tuition: $41,538
Student living costs: $17,217
Student retention rate: 97 percent
College Education Value Index: 91.03
Number 4: Georgia Institute of Technology — Main Campus
City: Atlanta, Georgia
Average scholarships and grants: $8,798
Average starting salary: $62,500
College tuition: $10,650
Student living costs: $12,734
Student retention rate: 96 percent
College Education Value Index: 88.05
Number 5: Stanford University
City: Stanford, California
Average scholarships and grants: $38,662
Average starting salary: $65,900
College tuition: $16,485
Student living costs: $17,066
Student retention rate: 94 percent
College Education Value Index: 86.07
Continue to keep counting down the ten best U.S. colleges for value, including one in Colorado.
Number 6: Colorado School of Mines
City: Golden, Colorado
Average scholarships and grants: $9,138
Average starting salary: $65,500
College tuition: $16,485
Student living costs: $14,118
Student retention rate: 94 percent
College Education Value Index: 85.49
Number 7: SUNY Maritime College
City: Throggs Neck, New York
Average scholarships and grants: $6,039
Average starting salary: $65,200
College tuition: $7,109
Student living costs: $15,505
Student retention rate: 85 percent
College Education Value Index: 84.94
Number 8: Missouri University of Science and Technology
City: Rolla, Missouri
Average scholarships and grants: $7,462
Average starting salary: $62,700
College tuition: $9,510
Student living costs: $12,288
Student retention rate: 86 percent
College Education Value Index: 84.34
Number 9: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
City: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Average scholarships and grants: $14,671
Average starting salary: $58,000
College tuition: $13,142
Student living costs: $13,098
Student retention rate: 97 percent
College Education Value Index: 83.16
Number 10: Princeton University
City: Princeton, New Jersey
Average scholarships and grants: $38,704
Average starting salary: $61,300
College tuition: $40,170
Student living costs: $15,662
Student retention rate: 98 percent
College Education Value Index: 83.12
Methodology
Earning a college degree can increase your skill set, job prospects and net worth. But with rising college costs, where you choose to get that degree from can make a big difference. SmartAsset looked at five factors to determine the best value colleges and universities: tuition, student living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, retention rate and starting salary.
To capture the true cost of attending a school, we included the tuition (using in-state tuition for public schools where applicable), student living costs (including room and board, books, supplies, transportation and other personal expenses) and the average scholarships and grants offered to students of the school.
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To capture what students get in return, we looked at student retention rate (the percent of students that re-enrolled at the institution the following year) and the average starting salary.
We gave 25% weighting to starting salary, tuition, and living costs; and 12.5% weighting to scholarships & grants and student retention rate to come up with a ranking of schools in our analysis. With that ranking, we created an index (a sort of grading on a curve) where the number-one school was assigned 100.
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