Finding the best-value universities

Rucha Solgama looks at the top best value universities that offer programs at the best possible value

Today, where jobs are not available with satisfactory income and where a person’s education level does not match up complimenting with their pay check, finding the best value university is a good call for present-students. There are certain students who earn high ranks in their class yet do not pursue for better education out of India due to financial disability. Even if they could go for risk and take that leap, they are still rookie about that thought on whether the money invested would give them the good returns in salary or not. And then, there are some who fail to have acute planning skills, which unfortunately places them in a non-lucrative situation. All of which regretfully creates setting back of their goals and dreams. Therefore, for students to get the best value out of their education and money invested, they must plan in a way that they receive double or higher salary within a rapid amount of time after their course terminates.With a colossal stressful list of US dollar hiking up, inflation never leaving, cost of living etc, it demurs the confidence of an Indian student and his family into keep rethinking whether studying abroad is still creditable.

What’s exactly a best value university, you’d ask? It is reasonable tuition fees plus high quality of teaching/knowledge plus return on investment (salary). The tuition fees must be reasonable, the standard of education must be in its excellence and nonetheless, after the completion of the course it should profit the student. Additionally,taking a loan has also become a spine-chilling factor for the Indian students and are recommended to avoid it. Interested students should dig up for scholarship programs or universities which provide Financial Aid program to the International students. Take a note that not all universities provide Financial Aid program for International students.The list that adds up in cost of living like food and transportation, hostel/apartment, books and stationaries, entertainment and other miscellaneous does create an extra load of liability baggage for such prospective students who aspire to study abroad.

How can a student investigate into finding a best-value university?

1. Well, a student can initially start by jotting down the universities which have the potentiality of giving them the salary level as they expect. Keep that ‘Return on Investment’ motto running in mind while you list them. It’s about the wages, so refer to the reports and data on salary of alumni from every university. Figure out which pays higher than the other and pick accordingly. Some provide the reports in their website, others don’t.
2. If you’re interested in US universities, check out Bloomberg Businessweek’s university league table, with the best ROI.
3. If you’re looking at UK universities, the Parthenon Group had published the top 30 ranking in best value universities in 2011, based on ex-graduates average salaries.
4. Keeping currency of the country in mind is necessary too. Less value of the note, more value in saving.
5. Make sure that as a student you get adequate teaching/class time. More lecture time and less fee should be the scale.
6. Campus facilities play an assertive role in advancing you, like: theatres, libraries, sports, student dorms etc. Although, keep an eye that it improves you in many ways rather than creating distractions on the way. Your focus at first is: high-quality tuition.
7. Proper accommodation, easy availability of food and transportation, other miscellaneous should also be reviewed.
8. The faster your course gets complete, the significant amount of money you save. While US undergraduate degree course takes 4 years, UK and Australia takes 3 years.
9. In the end, it’s about an individual’spreferences and priorities. It will be the combination of all thesefactors that will reap your ‘ROI’ accordingly.

The Top 8 ranking universities that give best-value :

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Rank: 1/100

Avg. Tuition fee/Room &Board: 59, 240 US dollars

2. Harvard University

Rank: 2/100

Avg. Tuition fee/Room &Board: 59, 607 US dollars

3. University of Cambridge

Rank: 3/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 31, 108 US dollars (Off-Campus Housing)

4. Stanford University

Rank: 4/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 60, 251 US dollars

5. California Institute of Technology

Rank: 5/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 57, 603 US dollars

6. Princeton University

Rank: 11/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 56, 490 US dollars

7. Yale University

Rank: 15/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 63, 250 US dollars

8. University of Pennsylvania

Rank: 18/100

Avg. Tuition fee/ Room & Board: 62, 352 US dollars

Although, Ivy-league forever stands strong with their ranking, academic excellence and solid ROI, there are other universities too which reciprocate the same standards, excluding the excessive fee structure. These universities listed down below, come underthe top 100 universities in the world according to topuniversities.com and are best in value, with money invested and the double salary received.

1. National University of Singapore.
2. Nanyang Technological University.
3. University of California, Berkeley.
4. University of California, Los Angeles.
5. University of Michigan.
6. University of California, San Diego.
7. The University of Sydney.
8. Georgia Institute of Technology.

 Sources: topuniversities.com, official websites of universities, collegecal.com