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
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
1150/23 $15,200 62% $15,720 $60,600 $13,500
90
2
1090/24 $21,800 59% $27,000 $70,600 $23,800
252
3
1030/20 $30,900 86% $25,000 $50,800 $6,000
326
4
1130/25 $41,400 86% $26,800 $59,700 $10,500
55
5
NA/NA $7,200 81% $14,250 $46,900 $1,900
45
6
1030/19 $8,900 73% $14,490 $48,600 $3,300
62
7
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
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
1150/23 $9,900 71% $15,000 $48,800 $2,600
76
12
1110/23 $12,900 90% $19,000 $54,300 $12,400
34
13
1130/22 $8,600 69% $15,000 $47,300 $1,300
36
14
1130/23 $16,000 45% $26,650 $63,700 $14,000
153
15
NA/NA $16,500 67% $15,470 $46,800 $1,100
106
16
1080/NA $17,800 53% $23,250 $48,400 $2,300
64
17
1120/24 $12,800 66% $17,400 $55,400 $10,300
229
18
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
NA/NA $45,800 93% $27,000 $70,300 $17,600
52
21
1100/21 $14,800 63% $16,850 $54,500 $7,800
202
22
1050/20 $13,200 62% $17,820 $49,300 $3,100
512
23
1180/25 $37,200 86% $26,000 $61,800 $13,600
9
24
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
1330/30 $40,000 66% $25,000 $63,400 $10,800
13
27
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
1060/20 $15,600 63% $16,810 $53,900 $8,000
301
31
1050/21 $18,800 58% $25,000 $47,000 $1,500
10
32
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
1220/26 $13,500 82% $19,000 $51,600 $5,400
418
35
1020/21 $19,600 86% $26,750 $46,500 $2,000
172
36
1090/22 $8,300 50% $15,700 $50,300 $2,600
33
37
1310/NA $4,300 60% $11,500 $55,600 $7,000
618
38
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
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
1150/23 $36,000 53% $25,990 $50,900 $1,700
11
43
1280/28 $20,000 55% $18,500 $59,200 $6,500
101
44
1180/25 $23,700 66% $27,000 $51,900 $3,200
247
45
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
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
1190/26 $27,200 94% $27,000 $55,400 $7,100
Rank
1
Buzzards Bay, MA
Money rank
36
Est. price after average aid
$16,000
2
New Rochelle, NY
Money rank
267
Est. price after average aid
$29,400
3
San Marcos, CA
Money rank
202
Est. price after average aid
$13,200
4
La Jolla, CA
Money rank
9
Est. price after average aid
$14,100
5
Wellesley, MA
Money rank
132
Est. price after average aid
$30,900
6
Waltham, MA
Money rank
139
Est. price after average aid
$40,000
7
Philadelphia, PA
Money rank
152
Est. price after average aid
$15,700
8
Lacey, WA
Money rank
324
Est. price after average aid
$23,600
9
Rohnert Park, CA
Money rank
161
Est. price after average aid
$16,800
10
Durham, NH
Money rank
101
Est. price after average aid
$23,700
11
Latrobe, PA
Money rank
159
Est. price after average aid
$22,100
12
Turlock, CA
Money rank
55
Est. price after average aid
$7,200
13
Riverdale, NY
Money rank
226
Est. price after average aid
$35,700
14
Sacramento, CA
Money rank
70
Est. price after average aid
$10,300
15
Pomona, CA
Money rank
15
Est. price after average aid
$13,300
16
Merced, CA
Money rank
76
Est. price after average aid
$12,900
17
Chico, CA
Money rank
52
Est. price after average aid
$14,800
18
San Francisco, CA
Money rank
109
Est. price after average aid
$15,600
19
Davis, CA
Money rank
10
Est. price after average aid
$16,400
20
Minneapolis, MN
Money rank
269
Est. price after average aid
$25,700
21
Riverside, CA
Money rank
48
Est. price after average aid
$13,500
22
Biddeford, ME
Money rank
448
Est. price after average aid
$36,000
23
Castine, ME
Money rank
90
Est. price after average aid
$21,800
24
Boston, MA
Money rank
326
Est. price after average aid
$41,400
25
Northridge, CA
Money rank
45
Est. price after average aid
$8,900

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26
Camarillo, CA
Money rank
153
Est. price after average aid
$16,500
27
Worcester, MA
Money rank
234
Est. price after average aid
$45,800
28
Irvine, CA
Money rank
13
Est. price after average aid
$15,700
29
Bronx, NY
Money rank
418
Est. price after average aid
$19,600
30
Farmingdale, NY
Money rank
172
Est. price after average aid
$8,300
31
Burbank, CA
Money rank
618
Est. price after average aid
$30,300
32
College Station, TX
Money rank
11
Est. price after average aid
$20,000
33
San Jose, CA
Money rank
24
Est. price after average aid
$15,200
34
Fresno, CA
Money rank
62
Est. price after average aid
$7,100
35
Fullerton, CA
Money rank
34
Est. price after average aid
$8,600
36
Montclair, NJ
Money rank
106
Est. price after average aid
$17,800
37
Philadelphia, PA
Money rank
229
Est. price after average aid
$34,500
38
Gwynedd Valley, PA
Money rank
263
Est. price after average aid
$24,700
39
Whittier, CA
Money rank
466
Est. price after average aid
$27,200
40
Smithfield, RI
Money rank
305
Est. price after average aid
$39,800
41
Lawrenceville, NJ
Money rank
413
Est. price after average aid
$30,600
42
Los Angeles, CA
Money rank
252
Est. price after average aid
$30,900
43
Long Beach, CA
Money rank
27
Est. price after average aid
$9,900
44
Chicago, IL
Money rank
64
Est. price after average aid
$12,800
45
Boston, MA
Money rank
512
Est. price after average aid
$37,200
46
Framingham, MA
Money rank
301
Est. price after average aid
$18,800
47
New York, NY
Money rank
33
Est. price after average aid
$4,300
48
Erie, PA
Money rank
247
Est. price after average aid
$23,400
49
Albany, NY
Money rank
136
Est. price after average aid
$16,500
50
Peoria, IL
Money rank
170
Est. price after average aid
$27,200

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