Social Mobility

The methodology for this ranking was developed and executed in collaboration with our research partners College Pulse and Statista. The ranking scores colleges based on the following components. The weight each component is given in the ranking is indicated as a percentage. Throughout, we use the latest data available for analysis.

Social mobility salary-impact score (67%): This multiplies “Years to pay off net price” and “Salary impact versus similar colleges” by the proportion of students at the college who receive Pell Grants. “Years to pay off net price” and “Salary impact versus similar colleges” are given equal weight within the social mobility salary-impact score.

“Years to pay off net price” combines two figures—the average net price of attending the college, and the value added to graduates’ median salary attributable to attending the college. The value added to graduates’ median salary by a college was estimated on the basis of the difference between the median earnings of the school’s graduates and the median earnings of high-school graduates in the state where the college is located. We then took the average annual net price of attending the college—including costs like tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies, taking into account any grants and scholarships, for students who received federal financial aid—and multiplied it by four to reflect an estimated cost of a four-year program. We then divided this overall net-price figure by the value added to a graduate’s salary, to provide an estimate of how quickly an education at the college pays for itself through the salary boost it provides. Our analysis for this metric used research on this topic by the Third Way policy-research think tank as a guide.

“Salary impact versus similar colleges” measures the extent to which a college boosts its graduates’ salaries beyond what they would be expected to earn regardless of which college they attended. We used statistical modeling to estimate what we would expect the median earnings of a college’s graduates to be on the basis of their demographic profile, taking into account the factors that best predict salary performance. We then scored the college on its performance against that estimate. These scores were then combined with scores for raw graduate salaries to factor in absolute performance alongside performance relative to our estimates. Our analysis for this metric used research on this topic by the Brookings Institution policy-research think tank as a guide.

We multiplied each of these scores separately by the proportion of students who receive Pell Grants at each college, to reward colleges that both take in a high proportion of students from lower family incomes and do a great job of boosting their salaries, while minimizing costs.

Social mobility graduation-rate impact score (33%): This multiplies “Graduation rates versus similar colleges” by the proportion of the students who receive Pell Grants.

“Graduation rates versus similar colleges” is a measure of a college’s performance in ensuring that its students graduate, beyond what would have been expected of the students regardless of which college they attended. We used statistical modeling to estimate what we would expect a college’s graduation rate to be on the basis of the demographic profile of its students, taking into account the factors that best predict graduation rates. We then scored the college on its performance against that estimate. These scores were then combined with scores for raw graduation rates to factor in absolute performance alongside performance relative to our estimates.

We multiplied this by the proportion of students who receive Pell Grants at each college, to reward colleges that both take in a high proportion of students from lower family incomes and do a great job of making sure they graduate.

We also display the following figures to provide context. These are the components of “Years to pay off net price” as explained above:

• Average net price: The average annual overall cost of attending the college, including tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies, taking into account any grants and scholarships, for students who received federal financial aid.
• Value added to graduate salary: The value added to graduates’ median salary attributable to attending the college. Estimated on the basis of the difference between the median earnings of the school’s graduates and the median earnings of high-school graduates in the state where the college is located.

Sources and definitions

• Graduate salaries from 2019 and 2020 are taken from the U.S. Education Department’s College Scorecard. We looked at median salaries 10 years after enrollment for those who received federal financial aid.
• Graduation rates from 2021 are taken from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (Ipeds), measuring the proportion of first-time, full-time students studying for four-year bachelor’s degrees who graduate within six years.
• High-school graduates’ salaries by state are taken from the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community survey, which uses data from 2017 to 2021. We looked at the median salary among people whose highest educational qualification is graduating high school or the equivalent and who are age 25 to 34.
• Average net price for the 2020-21 academic year is taken from the College Scorecard.
• The proportion of students receiving Pell Grants in the 2020-21 academic year is taken from the College Scorecard.
• “Private” in the above table means “Private, not for profit.” We don’t include for-profit colleges in our ranking.
• All scores that aren’t formatted in years and months or in dollars are on a scale of 0 to 100.
• In the event of an exact tie for overall Social Mobility score, Best Colleges scores are used as a tiebreaker to decide rank order.

Eligibility All U.S. colleges are eligible to be part of our ranking if they meet the following criteria:

• Title IV eligible, i.e., is an accredited university that’s eligible for federal financial aid.
• Awards four-year bachelor’s degrees.
• Located in the 50 states or Washington, D.C.
• Has more than 900 students.
• Isn’t insolvent.
• Isn’t for-profit.
• We receive at least 50 valid responses from verified students or recent alumni to the student survey.
• The government data for the factors used to compile our ranking is collected and publicly reported.

U.S. service academies aren’t included in the ranking, as government data used in compiling our Best Colleges scores isn’t collected and publicly reported for them.

If you have any questions or feedback, get in touch with us at collegerankings@wsj.com