The University of Portland has been named the best college in Oregon for value in an annual ranking released today by MONEY Magazine, a Time Inc. publication. MONEY’s 2018-2019 Best Colleges rankings and search tools are designed to help families find a great college at a great price.
The University of Portland is ranked #115 overall nationally by MONEY for value, up from #173 just two years ago. Other Oregon schools featured in the rankings include Oregon State University ranked at #312; Linfield College, #373; University of Oregon, #434, Lewis & Clark College, #441; Willamette University, #479, Reed College, #565; and George Fox, #570. You can read the full rankings here.
The University of Portland received high marks for its health sciences and engineering programs, as well as the nationally recognized Entrepreneur Scholars program, which gives students the opportunity to meet with experts, check out apprenticeships, and test real-world ventures. The school is in the process of completing a set of 2020 goals that include infusing the community with internationalization and diversity.
You can read more about MONEY’s rankings methodology here.
High 4-year graduation rate
The University of Portland was also featured for its four-year completion rates. While many students enter higher education expecting to graduate in four years, in reality most students find themselves taking an extra semester or year. Nationally, it takes students 4.8 years enrolled at a private college to graduate, and 5.2 years at a public college, with each additional semester bringing more expense for families.
As part of its efforts in this area, the University of Portland “has hired additional academic advisors and introduced software that enables students to better track their progress toward a degree — a move that frees up advisors to tackle bigger questions about academic interests or career goals. The University also started requiring professors to issue midterm grades in entry-level courses, so first-year students transitioning to college-level work can gauge how they’re doing early on, with enough time remaining in the semester to make changes. Portland’s four-year graduation rate is now 75% — up 16 percentage points over the past decade.”
Read the full article here.
MONEY is a magazine published by Time Inc. The magazine’s coverage includes personal finance, including investing, saving, retirement and taxes, and family finance, including credit, careers and the costs of college.
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The University of Portland is an independently governed Catholic university guided by the Congregation of Holy Cross. U.S. News & World Report ranks the institution as one of the top ten regional universities in the American West. It is the only school in Oregon to offer a College of Arts & Sciences, a graduate school, and nationally accredited programs in the schools of business, education, engineering, and nursing.