Las Vegas, N.M – New Mexico Highlands University is a leading college in the best bang for the buck category, according to Washington Monthly magazine.
In a study published in August 2017, Washington Monthly ranked Highlands 74th in the Western United States for colleges that help non-wealthy students attain a marketable degree at affordable prices.
Highlands earned the highest ranking of any public college or university in New Mexico in Washington Monthly’s bang for the buck category.
“At Highlands, we are all about value, which is a combination of cost and quality,” Highlands University President Sam Minner said. “Our cost is exceptionally low and we are one of the most affordable institutions around. And yet our quality is high, with small classes, great faculty members, tons of student support, and lots of individual attention. For those reasons, HU is a great value – an outstanding bang for the buck, as the Washington Monthly notes.”
Minner said many university rankings depend on inputs such as schools that serve students with the highest grades upon admission, schools that only admit students with the highest ACT or SAT scores, and schools that do not admit the greatest number of students because they are so selective.
“Here at Highlands, we focus on other measures. When our students graduate from HU, they go on to take great jobs at good salaries. They also leave us carrying low, or even no, student debt,” Minner said.
Since 2005, Washington Monthly has released an annual College Guide and ranking. Since 2012, the magazine has ranked America’s four-year colleges and universities on the bang for the buck measure, using data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.
According to Washington Monthly, its bang for the bang listing also evaluates colleges on their graduates’ social mobility, the ability to rise above their socioeconomic status after graduating and entering the workforce.
In July 2017, the Brookings Institution named Highlands as one of the leading colleges in the country for boosting social mobility. The nonprofit institution ranked Highlands 19th among 342 four-year public teaching colleges nationwide that help push students up the income ladder upon graduation, especially those from low-income families.