In the latest edition of the College ROI report, PayScale examines which colleges and universities offer the best career and salary return against tuition costs and any debt load that students have incurred. All data used to produce the PayScale College ROI rankings were collected from college-educated workers who successfully completed PayScale’s Employee Survey between 2/1/2013 and 2/1/2016. The average sample size for an included school is 392 alumni profiles. Oregon Tech is listed as high as 10th out of approximately 1,000 schools nationally for annual ROI (28th in 20-year net ROI for students without financial aid living off campus), which is the 20-year ROI annualized to represent the percent of expected ROI received each year after graduation. PayScale reports that the average college student graduating accumulates almost $30,000 in student loans, while Oregon Tech graduates are listed at $24,700, the second lowest of ranked Oregon schools, and have a typical starting salary of $58,500.
“Oregon Tech’s efficiency, relevance, quality, and student-focused learning environment translate into one of the best-value universities in the country,” notes Oregon Tech President Chris Maples. “Oregon Tech has continued to move up in various national rankings for the past several years, and I expect we will continue to provide an excellent return on students’ educational investment.”
PayScale specifically notes the high return on investment of Oregon Tech among all Oregon schools:
Those who choose to go to college in the state of Oregon earn big when it comes to the ROI on their tuition dollars…Topping the list in the number one spot for Oregon this year is the Oregon Institute of Technology, which ranks nationally on our list at number 48 [in 20-year net ROI, in-state tuition, no financial aid]. At OIT, in-state students pay a tuition of $86,600 [for their degrees] but have a 20 year-net ROI of $630,000. This makes OIT a top candidate in terms of being a best value college. Situated in Klamath Falls, the OIT campus flaunts fantastic views of the southern Cascade Mountains and Upper Klamath Lake. OIT is well-known in the area for its focus on engineering. Engineering students from OIT are highly sought after and recruited by corporations around the world. Attending OIT means attending a relatively small school, reporting only around 4,000 undergraduates enrolled in 2014. This means you can expect smaller class sizes, and more 1 on 1 time with OIT professors and instructors.
“Congratulations to Oregon Tech for being one of the leading schools nationally in the return on investment they offer graduates, and to all the students represented in this ranking who have succeeded so impressively in their careers,” said Ben Cannon, Executive Director of the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. “At the HECC, we are understanding college affordability not just in terms of tuition and debt, but in terms of what that investment means for a student's future earning potential. With students and families bearing a higher percentage of the costs for a higher education than in previous generations, this long term view is important, and Oregon’s Tech’s #11 ranking highlights value for current and future students.”
This year PayScale added new data on how a student’s household income when entering college affects his or her earning potential after graduation, as well as data around student loan payments and career readiness upon graduation. Access to data showing how other alumni following a similar path have fared in the job market is critical to ensuring students are making financial decisions that make sense. The dollar figure assigned to each of the institutions examined – the ROI – represented the amount a college graduate could expect to earn over and above what a typical high school graduate earned during the same period, after deducting the cost of obtaining his or her degree.
Chair of Oregon Tech’s Board of Trustees, Dr. Lisa Graham said, “I’m so proud of Oregon Tech’s faculty and staff for helping our graduates obtain such value for their degree, and for the overall success they achieve in their careers. This ranking verifies what we already know about the quality of the education we provide at Oregon Tech, the caliber of the faculty, and the great students we attract who work so hard in fields of study that are complex and take a high amount of academic and professional determination.”
To view the complete “2016 College Education ROI Report” and the list of all institutions ranked, go to PayScale.
About Oregon Tech
Founded in Klamath Falls in 1947, Oregon Institute of Technology is the premier public polytechnic institution in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon Tech provides degree programs in engineering and health technologies, management, communication, and applied sciences that prepare students to be effective participants in their professional, public, and international communities through hands-on, applied and relevant learning. Oregon Tech has a full-service, residential campus in Klamath Falls and an urban, industry-focused campus in Wilsonville. Visit www.oit.edu to learn more about Oregon Institute of Technology.
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