These Connecticut Colleges Offer The Best Value: New Report

CONNECTICUT — Yale University once again showed up in the top ten of a national survey of the nation's best "value colleges."

The analysts at school ranking website Niche released their findings this week, and they predictably differed slightly from personal finance magazine Money's attempt at the same survey earlier this year. Niche placed Yale at No. 8 nationally, but both teams awarded the statewide value school brass ring to the Bulldogs.

See Also: Connecticut's Best Public High Schools: 2022 Rankings Released

In addition to the Top 10 ranking for value, Niche gave Yale an "A+" grade for academics, diversity, professors, student life and even "party scene." The only area where Yale scored less than an "A minus" was safety, with just a "C+" grade. Niche rated Yale's professors the best in the nation, and ranked its history and religious studies programs first in their class as well.

Four factors in the previous value ranking methodology were dropped this year in order to end reliance on older, less comprehensive data sets, according to Niche's analysts. New factors — sourced from the US Department of Education, American Community Survey, and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System — include average return on investment by age 30, median earnings one year after graduation, percent of graduates employed two Years after graduation, year-over-year difference between 1st and 2nd year earnings. See Niche's complete methodology here.

Yale alumni go on to earn a starting salary of $56,600 after paying a net tuition of just $17,511 annually. That's clearly a great deal, just likely not a great deal for you. The university's acceptance rate is only 7 percent, according to Niche.

"Even before the pandemic, high school students and their families were questioning the value of higher education, in large part due to how expensive it’s become in the past twenty years or so," said Ryan Bell, principal strategist at Niche. "Our updates to our Value methodology come at a time when prospective college students are more intent on choosing a school that will yield a good return on investment than ever before."

See Also: 8 Connecticut Colleges Among Top 500 In U.S.: Forbes

If you're prepared to do a little traveling, there are better academic value propositions to be had. The California Institute of Technology; Harvey Mudd College, also in California; and MIT topped Niche's best value college chart for 2023. They were followed by Stanford, Princeton, Harvard and Rice.

In state, and considerably easier to get into, the University of Connecticut campuses at Groton, Waterbury and Storrs all made Niche's Top 5 list of value colleges in Connecticut, along with Trinity College in Hartford.

2023 Best Value Colleges in Connecticut

1. Yale University, New Haven
2. University of Connecticut - Avery Point, Groton
3. University of Connecticut - Waterbury
4. Trinity College, Hartford
5. University of Connecticut, Storrs
6. University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford
7. Fairfield University, Fairfield
8. Wesleyan University, Middletown
9. University of Connecticut - Stamford
10. Connecticut College, New London
11. Quinnipiac University, Hamden
12. Sacred Heart University, Fairfield
13. Central Connecticut State University, New Britain
14. Western Connecticut State University, Danbury
15. Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven
16. Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic
17. University of New Haven, West Haven
18. Albertus Magnus College, New Haven
19. University of Hartford, West Hartford
20. University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport

If you're looking to go to a good school nearby and money is no object, Yale, Trinity and UConn are still at the top of Niche's "overall best in Connecticut" list, joined by Wesleyan in Middletown and Connecticut College in New London.

2023 Best Colleges in Connecticut

1. Yale University, New Haven
2. Wesleyan University, Middletown
3. Trinity College, Hartford
4. University of Connecticut, Storrs
5. Connecticut College, New London
6. Fairfield University, Fairfield
7. University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford
8. Quinnipiac University, Hamden
9. University of Connecticut - Avery Point, Groton
10. University of Connecticut - Stamford
11. University of Hartford, West Hartford
12. Sacred Heart University, Fairfield
13. Central Connecticut State University, New Britain
14. Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic
15. University of New Haven, West Haven
16. Albertus Magnus College, New Haven
17. Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven
18. University of Hartford, West Hartford
19. University of Connecticut - Waterbury
20. Post University, Waterbury