DU Ranked as Affordable School with Degrees that Pay Off for Graduates

Duquesne has been selected as one of Pennsylvania’s most affordable colleges, and one of the 81 institutions in the state whose degrees provide the most value over the graduate’s lifetime.

Duquesne is considered one of the most affordable universities in the state.
Duquesne is considered one of the most affordable universities in the state.

According to AffordableCollegesOnline.org, Duquesne and others on the High ROI College list “enjoy the largest earnings gap between non-degree holders over 30 years and earn more on average than graduates from other Pennsylvania schools.”

According to the ranking, Duquesne graduates enjoy a $490,900 return on the investment in their college education over their lifetimes.

These calculations were based upon data compiled from the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal entity that collects data related to education; the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, a the primary federal source for data on post-secondary schools in the nation; the Carnegie Classification, a widely used framework to make distinctions among institutions and their research activities; and PayScale.com, a salary data collection organization.

In its initial rankings, AffordableCollegesOnline.org analyzed 402 institutions in the state and selected 81 public and private institutions for the list. Criteria included being a fully accredited, four-year, degree-granting institution. Calculations included using the university’s tuition and fee expenses, graduates’ average starting salaries and return on investment (ROI) calculation, and PayScale’s 2013 College Value Report.