JU ranked fifth in state for best lifetime return on investment!

Jacksonville University ranks fifth in the state among colleges offering the highest lifetime return on investment, in a list released by an organization that identifies affordable colleges. 

According to AffordableCollegesOnline.org (AC Online), graduates from these schools “enjoy the largest earnings gap between non-degree holders over 30 years, and earn more on average than graduates from other Florida schools.”

JU’s graduates earn $631,700 more over their lifetimes, on average, according to the rankings.

The “High ROI College” rankings were narrowed from about 400 Florida colleges and used calculations of tuition prices, starting salaries for graduates and an estimate of return on investment over a long-term period.

“At JU, it’s clear that our students receive an education that dramatically increases their chances for solid job prospects, advancement and earnings over the course of a career,” said JU President Tim Cost.

With an average starting salary for its graduates of $45,200, according to premier salary data collection organization Payscale.com, and average annual tuition of $29,100 before financial aid, JU offers an attractive, affordable, fully accredited private education option, with cutting-edge degree offerings. More than 95 percent of traditional undergraduate students receive merit aid. In 2012, $113 million total financial aid and scholarships was awarded.

For its Florida rankings, AC Online worked from a list of nearly 400 fully accredited, public or private, four-year, degree-granting institutions, and used 2013 data sets from Payscale.com’s 2013 College Education ROI Rankings (http://www.payscale.com/college-education-value-2013), as well as data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (http://nces.gov/), Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS) (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), and Carnegie Foundation’s “Carnegie Classification” (http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org).

Other Florida institutions on the AC Online “High ROI College” state list include the University of Florida, at No. 3; Florida State University, at No. 11; the University of North Florida, at No. 12; University of Miami, at No. 13; University of Tampa, at No. 14; Rollins College, at No. 16; Eckerd College, at No. 18; and Stetson University, at No. 21.

To see the Florida rankings, visit http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/florida.