was recently ranked among the best schools in the nation in Forbes’ annual ranking of Top Colleges. These rankings of 650 schools – the top 20 percent of all four-year and graduate universities in the nation – are exclusively prepared for Forbes by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), a Washington D.C. think tank founded by Ohio University economist Richard Vedder.
According to Forbes, the ranking focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, great career prospects, graduation rates and low levels of debt. Unlike other lists, Forbes emphasizes that they ignore ephemeral measures such as school “reputation.” The ranking is achieved by evaluating the college purchase as a consumer: Is it worth spending as much as a quarter of a million dollars for this degree?
The rankings are based on five general categories: Post Graduate Success (30 percent), an evaluation of alumni pay and prominence; Student Satisfaction (27.5 percent), including professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore retention rates; Debt (17.5 percent); Four-year graduation rate (17.5 percent); and Competitive Awards (7.5 percent) or prestigious scholarships and fellowships.
graduates enjoy an outstanding graduate success rate with 92 percent either employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. Graduates also earn an average starting annual salary of $55,000.
The current retention rate for freshmen to sophomore year is 76.1 percent, approximately the national average. graduates carry a college debt load of approximately $27,266 in federal and institutional loans (the national average is estimated to be about $23,000).
In addition to the overall rankings, the Center for College Affordability and Productivity also prepares a “value” ranking, which takes into account the overall cost of each school relative to the quality of education provided.
To view the Forbes’ Top Colleges ranking, visit
Founded in Klamath Falls in 1947, is one of seven public institutions in the Oregon University System, and the only public institute of technology in the Pacific Northwest. provides degree programs in engineering and health technologies, management, communications and applied sciences that prepare students to be effective participants in their professional, public and international communities through hands-on learning. ’s main campus is in Klamath Falls; other sites are located in Portland, Salem, La Grande and Seattle. Visit to learn more about .
