These MA Schools Give Best Return On Investment: Princeton Review

When it comes to college, many potential students choose a school where they can get the most for their money.

Princeton Review this month released its 2020 list of colleges that offer the best return on investment — which is impressive because the average tuition for the six schools that made the list is $54,705.

Princeton Review chose 75 schools based on a 2018-19 survey of administrators at 656 colleges. Survey topics covered academics, cost, financial aid, career services, graduation rates, student debt, and alumni support.

The Princeton Review also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the colleges as well as PayScale.com surveys of school alumni about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction.

The following Massachusetts schools made this year’s list.

• 2. MIT, Cambridge. Tuition: $53,450
• 7. Williams, Williamstown. Tuition: $59,530
• 8. Harvard, Cambridge. Tuition: $46,340
• 18. Amherst. Tuition: $57,640
• 65. Smith, Northampton. Tuition: $53,940
• 68. Tufts, Medford. Tuition: $57,324

Related:

• Best Colleges In MA 2020: U.S. News
• Best Grad Schools In MA 2020: U.S. News
• Best New England Colleges For Your Money

The first edition of The Princeton Review's “Best Value Colleges” book, published in 2004, was inspired by findings of the company's 2003 College Hopes & Worries Survey, a project that annually polls college applicants and their parents about their application perspectives and concerns.

In the 17 years that The Princeton Review has conducted the survey, concerns about college costs continue to rise each year. Among the findings of the 2019 survey: 88 percent of the 11,900 respondents said financial aid would be "very" or “extremely" necessary to pay for college — a substantial increase from the 78 percent of respondents who indicated such levels of need in 2007.