Dive Brief:
- Great Value Colleges' new ranking of the top affordable colleges and universities in the Western U.S. lists California State University-Long Beach as the No. 1 public school, while the University of the West in Rosemont, CA, takes the top spot among private schools.
- Rounding out the top five public schools are: the University of Washington, San Diego State University, San Jose State University, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
- On the private school side, Nos. 2 through 5 are: Brigham Young University-Idaho; Heritage University in Toppenish, WA; Brigham Young University-Hawaii; and Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, CA.
Dive Insight:
The listing starts with regionally accredited schools that have a net price to attend of $22,000 or less. They are then ranked based on eight criteria: six-year graduation rates, freshmen retention rates, their student-to-faculty ratios, percentage of classes entrusted to graduate assistants, their average entrance ACT scores, their number of campus organizations, their number of academic programs, and their ranking on the Forbes colleges list. Great Value Colleges defines the Western U.S. as Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington.
