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Houghton College Ranked In The Top 5% Of Colleges Nationwide And First Among Western New York Colleges Listed By Forbes
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – On August 5, Forbes
released its list of public and private colleges and
universities, ranking the best schools based on post-graduation
outcomes and from the students' point of view. Houghton College
is ranked in the top 5% of colleges nationwide and first among
western New York colleges listed, according to this
second-annual ranking of America’s Best Colleges, compiled by
Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity
(CCAP).
Authors, David M. Ewalt and Hana R. Alberts explain, “To our way of thinking, a good college is one that meets student needs.” They further state, “We focus on things which directly concern incoming students: Will my courses be interesting and rewarding? Will I get a good job after I graduate? Is it likely I will graduate in four years? Will I incur a ton of debt getting my degree?”
To answer these questions, the staff at CCAP gathered data from a variety of sources in the public domain, such as the U.S. Department of Education statistics and Payscale.com. The criteria included seven post-graduation outcomes, including four year graduation rates, average salaries of graduates, estimated student debt upon graduation, and the number of student and faculty winners, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes. [www.forbes.com]
Houghton College ranked 172 of the top 600, selected from over 4,000 college campuses throughout the United States – placing Houghton in the top 5% of all public and private schools. Furthermore, Houghton was ranked 15th of the 55 New York schools listed and placed the highest of all the western New York institutions. Forbes emphasized that appearing on the list at all indicates that the institution meets a certain level of quality, since only the top 15% of institutions are ranked.
