STEUBENVILLE — Money magazine awarded four stars to Franciscan University of Steubenville in its recent “America’s Best Colleges 2023” resource
Only 736 colleges (30 percent of the more than 2,400 US universities) made the list based on financial health, student population and above-average graduation rates. The financial magazine’s new five-star rating system was based on 26 competitive metrics across three categories: affordability, quality of education and student outcomes. These metrics included cost of attendance, financial aid, graduation rates and alumni salaries.
According to Money magazine, the new rating system makes the determination easier “where your tuition (and time) is likely to pay off.”
Franciscan’s four-star rating reflects growing demand for its uniquely Catholic approach to education that prioritizes academic excellence and affordability, school officials said. The university expects its seventh consecutive record year for total on-campus and online enrollment this fall, as well as a fourth consecutive year for in-person enrollment.
In a time of stubborn inflation and other economic hardships, affordability is a priority for many families considering college. John Herrmann, Franciscan’s executive director of enrollment services, identified affordability as a primary driver for the college’s increased applications in recent years.
“With more than $35 million in financial aid available to our undergraduate students, approximately 99 percent of them receive some form of scholarship or need-based aid.” Herrmann said. “This is one of the ways that Franciscan University continues to make the dream of an excellent Catholic college education a reality for more and more young people each year.”
According to Money, Franciscan has an acceptance rate of 68 percent, with an estimated cost to attend of $20,900, after taking into account an average grant.
By forgoing a numerical ranking system, Money magazine’s five-star ranking approach allows students and parents to look beyond big-name colleges and discover smaller colleges like Franciscan, where fewer tuition dollars they will provide an excellent academic education and a transformative student life experience.
Last fall, US News & World Report’s 2022-23 Best Colleges Guide ranked Franciscan in the top 15 percent of all universities in the Midwest. Key factors in this top ranking include Franciscan’s 87 percent first-year retention rate, 72 percent graduation rate and 14-1 student/faculty ratio.
Other schools in our region that earned spots on Money’s list included Carnegie Mellon University and Ohio State University, which earned 4.5 stars each; the University of Pittsburgh, 4 stars; and Ohio University, Wheeling University, Robert Morris University, West Virginia University, Duquesne University, Carlow University, and Chatham University, which each earned 3.5 stars.
To see Money magazine’s full rankings, visit money.com/best-colleges.
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