(NEXSTAR) – High school seniors often talk about their dream school while applying for college, but what about the best value school?
Despite conjuring up visions of commuting from mom and dad’s house to a reasonably-priced city college, the latest ranking of the “Best Value Colleges” by Niche has a number of Ivy League institutions in the top 25.
Value, according to Niche, an education data and review site, was defined for the study using 15 different factors – many of which were measured in the years after graduation.
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The two most heavily-weighted factors were the average return on investment by 30 and the economic mobility index , followed by the average net price, graduation rate, loan default rate, median earnings one year after graduation and median earnings six years after graduation.
For the second straight year in a row, Harvey Mudd College in the greater Los Angeles area took the top spot. The small private college in Claremont, California had about 900 students in 2024 and is known for its low acceptance rate with around 13% of applicants admitted. Graduates of Harvey Mudd go on to make a starting salary over $72,000, according to Niche.