U.S. News & World Report has ranked California State University, Long Beach no. 2 of the lowest student debt among regional public universities in the West. The report was featured in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2015 Guidebook. It was also ranked the fifth best public regional university in the West.
Adding private institutions to the mix, CSULB ranked no. 33 overall among all colleges and universities in the West, a region made up of 13 states from Texas to California to Washington and includes Alaska and Hawaii.
The 2014 “Best Colleges” guide provides a look at how some 1600 accredited four-year schools compare on a set of up to 16 indicators of excellence based on a number of categories, including assessment by administrators at peer institutions, graduation and retention rates of students, student selectivity and alumni giving.
The indicators also include input measures that reflect a school’s student body, its faculty and its financial resources. The guide rates U.S. colleges and universities in an effort to assist students with one of the most important decisions of their lives, choosing the right college.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, research shows that those with a college degree earn nearly twice as much as those with just a high school diploma. The wage gap is even larger when comparing those with master’s or doctoral degrees to those with just a high school diploma.
The print edition of the “Best Colleges 2015″ guidebook can be purchased online now or on newsstands.