The magazine’s editors developed a new system, detailed in the article “Why The Ivies Aren’t Worth It,” which examines schools’ “payback ratio” by comparing the cost of tuition with the potential graduate earnings. Three years after graduation, the alumni median salary for a Holy Cross graduate is $50,200; after 15 years, that number jumps to $106,000. Holy Cross had an average of 114 percent for its “return on tuition,” according the magazine’s ranking.
“Our goal was to spotlight the relationship between tuition costs and graduates’ earning power,” the magazine says. To find each school’s payback ratio, SmartMoney consulted with salary research company PayScale.com. Editors first looked at early and mid-career salaries for alumni from 50 of the country’s most expensive four-year institutions. Then, the up-front tuition and fees were factored in, providing a “payback ratio” for each school.
In addition to rating Holy Cross fourth among liberal arts colleges, SmartMoney rated the College 30th overall in long-term return value among the top 50 most expensive schools. Holy Cross was ranked ahead of Bucknell University (31), Amherst College (32), and Colgate University (35), as well as Ivy League schools such as Columbia University (34) and Brown University (36).
In a report released over the summer, PayScale ranked Holy Cross as sixth among top liberal arts colleges and universities for potential alumni earnings. The rankings were based on the salaries of both recent graduates and those with 10 to 20 years of work experience.
