Forbes ranks UCI 4th in nation for ‘best value’
Survey also praises campus for second-best upward mobility rate
When it comes to getting the best value for your tuition dollar, UCI now ranks fourth in the nation, according to Forbes magazine. The new listing puts UCI in the company of Harvard University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and other elite institutions.
The Forbes 2018 Best Value College survey rated 300 schools on their ability to deliver the best bang for the tuition buck based on tuition costs, school quality, post-grad earnings, student debt and graduation success.
UCLA, UC Berkeley and Brigham Young University led the list, with UCI outpacing Harvard, the University of Washington, Stanford and Princeton.
Among its best-value colleges, Forbes also rated UCI No. 2 for having the most success with upward mobility. To do this, the magazine took the percentage of students from the bottom 20 percent income distribution who reach the top 20 percent, and then ranked them by alumni with the highest mid-career salaries.
“From The New York Times’ naming UCI No. 1 for doing the most for the American dream to Forbes’ best-value ranking, we’re thrilled to once again be recognized as a leading campus in the United States for providing unparalleled opportunities for all of our students to succeed, no matter what their background,” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. “We are proud to offer California’s brightest young people a world-class education and the means to pursue the lives they want to lead as productive and informed citizens.”
The Forbes report is the latest in a series of rankings that place UCI in the top tier of national colleges. Last year, The New York Times’ College Access Index rated UCI No. 1 among U.S. universities doing the most for the American dream and providing unparalleled opportunity for social mobility. Money also placed the campus at No. 7 among four-year universities for “educational quality, affordability and alumni success.”
In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranks UCI the ninth-best public university in America, and Money magazine listed UCI as the nation’s No. 1 university for beach lovers. In March, the U.S. News & World Report rating of graduate programs listed seven fields of advanced study at UCI in the top 10 among public universities and 16 in the top 25. And the Sierra Club’s Sierra magazine has named the campus a top 10 “Coolest School” seven years in a row for its innovative sustainability programs.