Money: Grove City College is top value for tuition dollar

A college education is a big investment for most students and their families. Deciding where to get the best return on an investment of tens of thousands of dollars, many of them borrowed, isn’t easy. 

Money magazine this week provided parents and students with a tool to help make their decision wisely with its list of colleges and universities that provide the best value for tuition dollars. 

Unsurprisingly, Grove City College is ranked high on Money’s “Best Colleges” list. Providing students a rich academic tradition at an amazing value in a Christian community of learners has been the College’s mission since it was founded nearly 140 years ago. 

Grove City College’s ranking on Money’s list puts it in the top 12 percent nationally based on educational quality, affordability and alumni earnings. It is among the top 10 Pennsylvania schools on the list. Grove City was also identified in the top 50 in Money’s lists of “Most Affordable Private Colleges” and “Best Colleges You Can Actually Get Into.” Money looked at 736 colleges and universities that have higher than average graduation rates and bond ratings that indicate financial stability.

Of all the major college rankings available, the Washington Post identified Money’s list as coming the closest to “answering the return on investment question” that is so elusive for many making their college choices and addresses the biggest question most parents writing tuition checks have: “Will my child get a good job after graduation?”

Money’s rankings back up other evidence that makes it clear that the answer for Grove City College parents is a resounding “yes.”

Grove City College’s impressive 82-percent graduation rate, high academic quality, low net price for a degree – and the likelihood that students will earn that degree in four years instead of five or more – along with average starting alumni salaries that average $46,000 a year earned the College inclusion on the list. 

Additional data – including a 95 percent job and graduate school placement rate six months after graduation and tuition that’s half of similar private colleges – and a nationally ranked Career Services Office, mission, research and internship opportunities, and an extensive network of alumni employers makes the value of a Grove City College education clear.