Most Transformative Colleges
It’s not surprising that elite schools report high graduation rates or alumni success. What’s impressive is when when students beat the odds by doing better than would be expected from their academic and economic backgrounds. We call this a college’s value add. For this list, we ranked colleges based on our exclusive value-added scores for graduation rates, earnings, and student loan repayment, eliminating schools with below-average scores.
Published on August 25, 2020. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, Peterson's, PayScale.com, Money/College Measures calculations.
College Name Overall Money Rank | Median SAT/ACT score | Est. price with average grant | % of students who get any grants | Average student debt | Early career earnings | Earnings premium over peers |
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College Name Overall Money Rank | Median SAT/ACT score | Est. price with average grant | % of students who get any grants | Average student debt | Early career earnings | Earnings premium over peers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 1 San Jose, CA | 1150/23 | $15,200 | 62% | $15,720 | $60,600 | $13,500 |
90 2 Castine, ME | 1090/24 | $21,800 | 59% | $27,000 | $70,600 | $23,800 |
252 3 Los Angeles, CA | 1030/20 | $30,900 | 86% | $25,000 | $50,800 | $6,000 |
326 4 Boston, MA | 1130/25 | $41,400 | 86% | $26,800 | $59,700 | $10,500 |
55 5 Turlock, CA | NA/NA | $7,200 | 81% | $14,250 | $46,900 | $1,900 |
45 6 Northridge, CA | 1030/19 | $8,900 | 73% | $14,490 | $48,600 | $3,300 |
62 7 Fresno, CA | 1020/19 | $7,100 | 77% | $15,000 | $48,000 | $3,100 |
226 8 Riverdale, NY | 1170/25 | $35,700 | 97% | $26,000 | $63,400 | $16,200 |
70 9 Sacramento, CA | 1040/19 | $10,300 | 73% | $15,570 | $52,100 | $6,500 |
15 10 | 1140/23 | $13,300 | 68% | $17,790 | $55,500 | $8,400 |
27 11 Long Beach, CA | 1150/23 | $9,900 | 71% | $15,000 | $48,800 | $2,600 |
76 12 Merced, CA | 1110/23 | $12,900 | 90% | $19,000 | $54,300 | $12,400 |
34 13 Fullerton, CA | 1130/22 | $8,600 | 69% | $15,000 | $47,300 | $1,300 |
36 14 Buzzards Bay, MA | 1130/23 | $16,000 | 45% | $26,650 | $63,700 | $14,000 |
153 15 Camarillo, CA | NA/NA | $16,500 | 67% | $15,470 | $46,800 | $1,100 |
106 16 Montclair, NJ | 1080/NA | $17,800 | 53% | $23,250 | $48,400 | $2,300 |
64 17 Chicago, IL | 1120/24 | $12,800 | 66% | $17,400 | $55,400 | $10,300 |
229 18 Philadelphia, PA | 1220/26 | $34,500 | 99% | $27,000 | $52,000 | $3,700 |
267 19 New Rochelle, NY | 1080/23 | $29,400 | 90% | $26,480 | $52,600 | $6,500 |
234 20 Worcester, MA | NA/NA | $45,800 | 93% | $27,000 | $70,300 | $17,600 |
52 21 Chico, CA | 1100/21 | $14,800 | 63% | $16,850 | $54,500 | $7,800 |
202 22 San Marcos, CA | 1050/20 | $13,200 | 62% | $17,820 | $49,300 | $3,100 |
512 23 Boston, MA | 1180/25 | $37,200 | 86% | $26,000 | $61,800 | $13,600 |
9 24 La Jolla, CA | 1370/30 | $14,100 | 58% | $16,810 | $59,300 | $7,400 |
132 25 Wellesley, MA | 1360/30 | $30,900 | 46% | $23,250 | $64,800 | $11,000 |
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139 26 Waltham, MA | 1330/30 | $40,000 | 66% | $25,000 | $63,400 | $10,800 |
13 27 Irvine, CA | 1300/29 | $15,700 | 65% | $15,890 | $55,900 | $6,500 |
263 28 Gwynedd Valley, PA | 1030/21 | $24,700 | 73% | $25,000 | $50,300 | $3,500 |
152 29 Philadelphia, PA | 1010/20 | $15,700 | 75% | $25,250 | $48,300 | $2,100 |
109 30 San Francisco, CA | 1060/20 | $15,600 | 63% | $16,810 | $53,900 | $8,000 |
301 31 Framingham, MA | 1050/21 | $18,800 | 58% | $25,000 | $47,000 | $1,500 |
10 32 Davis, CA | 1280/28 | $16,400 | 66% | $13,000 | $57,100 | $5,500 |
269 33 Minneapolis, MN | 1250/22 | $25,700 | 88% | $26,850 | $49,600 | $4,100 |
48 34 Riverside, CA | 1220/26 | $13,500 | 82% | $19,000 | $51,600 | $5,400 |
418 35 Bronx, NY | 1020/21 | $19,600 | 86% | $26,750 | $46,500 | $2,000 |
172 36 Farmingdale, NY | 1090/22 | $8,300 | 50% | $15,700 | $50,300 | $2,600 |
33 37 New York, NY | 1310/NA | $4,300 | 60% | $11,500 | $55,600 | $7,000 |
618 38 Burbank, CA | 1040/22 | $30,300 | 76% | $29,250 | $49,900 | $4,100 |
466 39 Whittier, CA | 1120/23 | $27,200 | 93% | $25,000 | $46,900 | $1,400 |
324 40 Lacey, WA | 1120/21 | $23,600 | 78% | $21,830 | $51,700 | $4,100 |
161 41 Rohnert Park, CA | 1080/21 | $16,800 | 58% | $17,640 | $51,500 | $4,300 |
448 42 Biddeford, ME | 1150/23 | $36,000 | 53% | $25,990 | $50,900 | $1,700 |
11 43 College Station, TX | 1280/28 | $20,000 | 55% | $18,500 | $59,200 | $6,500 |
101 44 Durham, NH | 1180/25 | $23,700 | 66% | $27,000 | $51,900 | $3,200 |
247 45 Erie, PA | 1120/23 | $23,400 | 82% | $27,000 | $51,100 | $3,400 |
305 46 Smithfield, RI | NA/NA | $39,800 | 89% | $27,000 | $57,200 | $6,800 |
136 47 Albany, NY | 1180/25 | $16,500 | 64% | $19,540 | $49,100 | $2,400 |
159 48 Latrobe, PA | 1130/22 | $22,100 | 97% | $27,000 | $47,300 | $300 |
413 49 Lawrenceville, NJ | 1100/23 | $30,600 | 90% | $26,000 | $48,500 | $1,800 |
170 50 Peoria, IL | 1190/26 | $27,200 | 94% | $27,000 | $55,400 | $7,100 |
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San Marcos, CA
Money rank
202
Est. price after average aid
$13,200
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Pomona, CA
Money rank
15
Est. price after average aid
$13,300
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Camarillo, CA
Money rank
153
Est. price after average aid
$16,500
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College Station, TX
Money rank
11
Est. price after average aid
$20,000
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