If you’re in the process of choosing a college, you’re probably neck-deep in facts and figures. While it’s essential to consider the data when making your choice, if you ignore everything but earning potential and graduation rates, you might wind up picking a school that looks great on paper, but is the worst possible place for you, the individual, to build your academic career. The best school for you is the one that takes all your needs into account, including career path, choice of major, and preferred campus culture. With this in mind, PayScale’s College ROI report offers lists of the best schools for sports fans, liberal arts majors, future businesspeople, and much more. For example, if you’re interested in a party school or need a place that keeps it clean, the following schools might be for you.
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PayScale uses the Princeton Review‘s list of the top party schools in the nation, and ranks them according to 20-year net ROI. Princeton classifies an institution as a party school if its students give survey answers that indicate a low number of study hours per day, high use of drugs and alcohol, and popularity of fraternities and sororities on campus.
Sober schools, on the other hand, are the exact opposite – their students say that they spend a large portion of their day studying, rarely or never use drugs or alcohol, and don’t tend to participate in Greek life.
Ranked by ROI, the top five party schools are:
20-year net ROI: $593,800
Total 4-year cost: $219,200
Average loan amount: $32,320
20-year net ROI: $580,500
Total 4-year cost: $232,500
Average loan amount: $26,440
3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (In-State)
20-year net ROI: $551,200
Total 4-year cost: $111,800
Average loan amount: $26,840
4. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Out-of-State)
20-year net ROI: $494,400
Total 4-year cost: $168,600
Average loan amount: $26,840
5. University of Delaware (In-State)
20-year net ROI: $466,600
Total 4-year cost: $96,400
Average loan amount: $31,320
Ranked by ROI, the top five sober schools are:
20-year net ROI: $615,700
Total 4-year cost: $67,300
Average loan amount:$22,200
2. University of Houston (In-State)
20-year net ROI: $487,700
Total 4-year cost: $85,300
Average loan amount: $24,640
3. University of Houston (Out-of-State)
20-year net ROI: $455,900
Total 4-year cost: $117,200
Average loan amount: $24,640
20-year net ROI: $379,400
Total 4-year cost: $93,600
Average loan amount: $43,600
20-year net ROI: $288,000
Total 4-year cost: $155,000
Average loan amount: $31,120
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