Where it pays to study

Nieuws | de redactie

29 augustus 2012 | Which U.S. colleges make their students pile up debt? Which ones offer the best return on capital invested? Data shows that MIT, Princeton and Co. truly offer a bright future, while NYU and many other private institutes contribute to the student loan bubble.

A research by U.S. magazine Newsweek ranked which universitieshave the lowest and the biggest return on tuition fees paid. Theaverage student graduates with $24,000 in debt, but largedifferences persist.

Of the 10 universities where students incur the most debt andsubsequently earn the least are 8 private institute and 2 publicones. Uncontested number 1 is the Roman Catholic Sacred HeartUniversity in Connecticut where 99% of the students graduate withan average debt burden of $40,865 and receive a median startingsalary $44,800.

A big name in this unfavorable ranking is New York University(NYU) on place 4. There, tuition fees amount to $58,858 while 55%of graduates incur an average debt burden of $41,300 and earnstarting salaries of $47,700 later on.

Same tuition fees, $22,000 extra salary

By contrast, studying at MIT is most profitable. While tuitionfees are in a similar range compared to NYU, starting mediansalaries are significantly higher at $69,700. Next in line arePrinceton University and California Institute of Technology.

Student loans have attracted much attention in the politicaldebate between incumbent President Obama and his Republicanchallenger Mitt Romney. Data indicated that for the first time in U.S.history student loan volume surpassed credit card volume lastyear.