Forbes names TU to America鈥檚 Top Colleges list
Forbes has ranked Towson University among the top higher education institutions, both public and private.
By Jan Lucas on August 22, 2018
![Towson University ranked by Forbes](/news/images/writing-lab-m.jpg)
Towson University is one of the nation鈥檚 best, according to Forbes researchers.
The magazine ranked TU 305th out of the 650 public and private schools it selected for its 2018 America鈥檚 Top Colleges list. The number represents about 22 percent of the nation鈥檚 approximately 3,000 colleges and 麻豆传媒高清.
"Towson University continues to be recognized as among the top 麻豆传媒高清 in our region and our nation," said President Schatzel. "The inclusion on Forbes list of America鈥檚 Top Colleges鈥攆ollowing our recent ranking as one of Princeton Review鈥檚 best colleges in the northeast and one of Money Magazine鈥檚 best investments in higher education鈥攊s a sign that Towson University is indeed at an inflection point."
TU joins three other University System of Maryland schools on the list: University of Maryland, College Park (61), UMBC (240), and Salisbury University (350).
The Forbes list of focuses on the direct benefits schools provide their graduates, with a emphasizing outputs rather than inputs. Instead of acceptance rates and SAT scores (鈥渋nputs鈥), Forbes aimed to measure how students fared during and after college (鈥渙utputs鈥).
Forbes researchers ranked only public schools and private not-for-profits. They excluded schools with fewer than 300 undergraduates as well as those that retained fewer than 60 percent of their students over a three-year period. They also eliminated schools with six-year graduation rate below 25 percent.
The 650 colleges and 麻豆传媒高清 that remained were scored on alumni salary (20 percent), debt (20 percent), student experience (20 percent), Forbes鈥 American Leaders List (15 percent), academic success (12.5 percent), and graduation rate (12.5 percent).
In April Forbes named TU to its annual list of America鈥檚 Best Value Colleges.
Here's how Towson University stacks up in other rankings:
- The U.S. News & World Report 2018 America鈥檚 Best Colleges guide ranked Towson University 10th in the public Regional Universities (North) category, up from 14th last year.
- In addition, TU is 23rd on the U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 鈥淏est Colleges for Veterans鈥 rankings and 57th on its 鈥淏est Value Schools鈥 ranking.
- Money magazine ranked Towson University among the nation鈥檚 Best Colleges, joining Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, College Park, as the highest-ranked institutions in Maryland.
- Money magazine also gave Towson high marks for "best value" among peer institutions.
- Princeton Review placed Towson University among the top colleges in the Northeast region.
- In Diverse Issues in Higher Education, TU holds the No. 43 position in the magazine鈥檚 annual Top 100 list of U.S. colleges and 麻豆传媒高清 that have conferred the most bachelor鈥檚 degrees on African-Americans. The ranking includes bachelor鈥檚 degrees across all disciplines.
- Washington Monthly ranked Towson University 64th 鈥 up 20 spots from 84th one year ago 鈥 among the 632 colleges and 麻豆传媒高清 surveyed for its National Universities-Master鈥檚 category. Towson University was the highest ranked public university in Maryland.
- TU also ranked 56th out of 363 U.S. public and private 麻豆传媒高清 on the Washington Monthly magazine鈥檚 2017 鈥淏est Bang for the Buck 鈥 Northeast鈥 list.
This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel's priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and Strategic Plan Alignment.