How We Choose the Best Grad Schools and Programs

This significant academic quality indicator calculates the percentage of students graduating within six years of enrollment. A high graduation rate may reflect various institutional strengths. These strengths include adequate student support resources, well-prepared learners, engaging teachers and curricula, and affordability.

Retention rate indicates the proportion of first-year, full-time college students who remain at the same school for their sophomore year. High retention rates suggest high rates of general student satisfaction and often result from effective teaching, affordability, satisfying campus resources, and a positive school atmosphere.

This ratio measures the average number of students per faculty member within a given institution or program. Lower ratios increase the likelihood that learners receive individualized attention from faculty. Having fewer students allows faculty to provide more mentorship and support per student. Therefore, our ranking methodology considers low student-to-faculty ratios a positive indicator.

Many of today's institutions increase their profits by hiring graduate students or non-tenure-track faculty to teach lower-level courses. High-quality schools prioritize hiring full-time, tenure-track faculty. These schools often get better academic results by investing in their educational staff. These institutions also tend to support teachers better and feature smaller, more manageable class sizes.

This affordability subfactor measures the average tuition price that financial aid recipients pay. Many schools with higher tuition rates also offer more financial aid. This results in a lower total net cost than at lower-tuition schools disbursing less financial aid.

This rate measures the percentage of students who have defaulted on their tuition loans. Unemployment, underemployment, and low salary can cause learners to default on loans. A low average loan default rate may correlate with positive student outcomes. Degrees that translate into lucrative careers end up paying for themselves and make loan payments manageable. Therefore low loan default rates indicate school affordability in the long term.

This figure reflects the proportion of federal loan recipients in relation to the total undergraduate student body. High percentages can indicate a more expensive school or a nonprofit, academic institution that accommodates students needing financial aid.

This figure averages the amount of financial aid the federal government grants per student at a given school. A higher average financial aid amount may indicate higher tuition rates or more generous financial aid policies.

This percentage indicates the number of new enrollees who receive institutional or federal financial aid, including scholarships, grants, loans, and work study. Higher percentages often appear at academic institutions with sufficient funding or ample financial aid options.

This ranking factor measures the average per-student funding amount not requiring repayment. Grants and scholarships cut educational expenses in the long term and the short term. Loans require repayment and therefore only reduce immediate expenses. Higher grant and scholarship amounts often indicate a large institutional endowment that bodes well for students.

This figure measures the median amount graduates owe in student loans and bills. This important number gives our program rankers a holistic sense of a school's affordability. However, this measure only calculates the student debt of those who graduate within six years of enrolling.

Comparing the number of admitted students to the number of total applicants, this percentage indicates a school's selectiveness. Lower admission rates typically correlate with more prestigious school reputations and higher post-graduation earnings. This factor significantly influences Grad School Hub's reputation ranking methodology.

Also known as admissions yield, enrollment rate highlights the percentage of an institution's accepted students who choose to enroll. A high enrollment rate suggests that admitted students often choose this institution over other schools that admitted them.

This measure averages students' annual income during their sixth year after enrollment. Higher salary averages indicate that an institution's students find lucrative employment in a reasonable timeframe. This factor influences reputation significantly, since securing lucrative careers constitutes a top educational priority for many students.

This subfactor measures the popularity and diversity of online degree offerings at a given institution. Schools offering many degrees online often provide a more well-designed and successful online education. Schools with fewer online degree programs may not excel at distance education.

This statistic indicates what percentage of a school's total enrollees pursue their graduate degrees online, rather than on campus. High percentages of online degree-seekers indicate well-known, popular, and robust distance learning programs and institutions.

*We only consider this subfactor for our online program rankings; not our on-campus rankings.

This statistic indicates the percentage of a school's total learners taking at least one online course at any point during their enrollment. This number includes on-campus and commuter students. High numbers of online learners often correlate with well-established online programs at institutions boasting effective online teaching and learning.

*We only use overall online enrollment as a subfactor in our online program rankings; not our on-campus rankings.