With years of state budget cuts to higher education adversely affecting the cost and quality of schools and research showing that public institutions can outperform private colleges in terms of graduates’ career outcomes, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its 2018’s Best College & University Rankings, along with separate rankings for colleges and universities.
To help college-bound seniors choose the best schools within their states, WalletHub’s analysts compared nearly 1,000 higher-education institutions in the U.S. based on 26 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as Student Selectivity, Cost & Financing and Career Outcomes. The data set ranges from student-faculty ratio to graduation rate to post-attendance median salary.
Top 10 Colleges & Universities in Alabama
1 | Birmingham-Southern College | 6 | University of Alabama | |
2 | University of Alabama-Birmingham | 7 | Auburn University | |
3 | Spring Hill College | 8 | Samford University | |
4 | University of Alabama-Huntsville | 9 | University of Montevallo | |
5 | University of North Alabama | 10 | University of West Alabama |
With that in mind, here’s a closer look at some of the top schools and how each performed in certain metrics:
School Snapshot: Birmingham-Southern College (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23 = Worst)
- 6th – Admission Rate
- 19th – Net Cost
- 6th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 20th – On-Campus Crime
- 15th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 1st – Graduation Rate
- 3rd – Post-Attendance Median Salary
School Snapshot: University of Alabama-Birmingham (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23 = Worst)
- 14th – Admission Rate
- 11th – Net Cost
- 15th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 12th – On-Campus Crime
- 4th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 8th – Graduation Rate
- 7th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
School Snapshot: Spring Hill College (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23= Worst)
- 2nd – Admission Rate
- 15th – Net Cost
- 9th – Student-Faculty Ratio
- 21st – On-Campus Crime
- 10th – Gender & Racial Diversity
- 4th – Graduation Rate
- 6th – Post-Attendance Median Salary
To view the full reports, please visit:
Best Colleges & Universities Overall: https://wallethub.com/edu/
Best Colleges: https://wallethub.com/edu/
Best Universities: https://wallethub.com/edu/
WalletHub is a personal finance website that launched in early August 2013.[ It is based in Washington, D.C. and owned by Evolution Finance, Inc.
Media Release/Diana Popa
WalletHub Communications Manager