Farmingdale State College Named A 'Most Desired' College

FARMINGDALE, NY — CollegeNet named Farmingdale State College to its 2019 Social Mobility Index, a data-driven analysis that ranks four-year U.S. colleges and universities based on how effectively they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into well-paying jobs. The school announced the honor Friday.

Social Mobility Index differs from most other rankings in that it focuses directly on the factors
that enable economic mobility.

"Once again, social mobility data places FSC grads in the top tier of nearly 1,500 colleges
surveyed," Dr. John S. Nader, president of Farmingdale State College, said via news release. "The early median career salary of our students is among the top 2 percent in the nation, at $51,700. And FSC students graduated with a lower level of debt ($16,834) than any other four-year SUNY college on Long Island."

CollegeNET President Jim Wolfston said: "Unlike other college rankings that are aimed primarily
at helping students select a college, the Social Mobility Index helps families and policymakers
determine which colleges are addressing the national problem of economic mobility. Administrators have a better chance to help strengthen U.S. economic mobility and the promise of the American Dream if they can identify and learn from colleges that are skilled at doing this."

Wolfston added that the U.S. is "now" the least economically mobile among developed nations. The statement has been true for years, according to PolitiFact.

"It is irresponsible to say an education institution is ‘better’ because it has a huge endowment, or because it admits students with higher SAT scores — which are most tightly correlated to family income. It is irresponsible to say an institution is ‘better’ because it drives up admissions application counts, turns away more students, and then boasts about ‘selectivity.’ In today’s world, where the American Dream is threatened, real prestige must accord to universities that educate and advance all motivated students, regardless of their economic background. This is the prestige that the Social Mobility Index seeks to promote."