What’s Wrong with These 135 Colleges…and Does it Matter?

You may have missed the excitement last May when Ronald Nelson announced he was going to attend the University of Alabama. This was a big deal not because Alabama had grabbed the top football recruit in the nation. It was a big deal because Nelson was actually accepted at all eight Ivy League schools, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and Washington University in St. Louis. He turned them all down to attend the honors college at the University of Alabama.

At the time, his decision caught my eye because of some of the smug, if not insulting, comments made by individuals with a vested interest to promote the superiority of an Ivy League education.

Ultimately, Nelson decided to go to the University of Alabama to save money so that he can afford to attend med school. And he doesn’t seem to think that a degree from Alabama is going to keep him from getting his MD.

The fact is that there are plenty of colleges and universities where students can  get an excellent education while saving some serious cash. Of course, many families worry if affordable colleges will be “challenging” enough or if the student will have intellectual peers. It seems safer, if not more expensive, to go with the “brand name” school.

Yet, the thing is that people who are good enough to get accepted at the list of schools Nelson rejected, are quite capable of succeeding anywhere. So why not spend some time looking for cheaper alternatives?

So how to get started? Let’s begin with the need for intellectual peers. There are 309 colleges and universities where the 75th percentile test score for the freshman class was at least at the 90th percentile for the test-or almost. For the SAT, the 90th percentile score for Critical Reading and Math was 1310. I used 1300. For the ACT, the 90th percentile was 28. There are 309 schools that have a 75th percentile score of either 1300 for the SAT or 28 for the ACT. That means a quarter of the freshman class would rank in the top 10% of the country in test taking.

Yes, I know all of the problems associated with test scores but they’re the same ones that come with college rankings anyway.

To continue, of the 309 schools, 137 do not show up in the top 100 of US News Best National Universities or National Liberal Arts Colleges. The question is “what’s wrong with these schools” and does the answer matter to you if they offer significant merit aid?

The reality is that there are a variety of reasons why these schools didn’t make the list and each school will be different. Furthermore, just because they didn’t make the top 100 nationally doesn’t automatically mean they are more generous with financial aid. A total of 29 of the schools have an average net price of over $30,000, never a good sign for merit aid.

However, 73 of the private institutions have an average net price of less than $30,000 with 15 at less than $20,000.  At 83 of the private schools, 90% or more of freshman are receiving institutional aid and 43 of them have average awards of $15,000 or greater. Thirteen averaged over $20,000.

Like I said, you really have to look at each school.

At 24 schools, 15% or more of the undergraduates have parents taking out PLUS loans for an average of at least $12,000–at least $20,000 for ten of the schools.

But students at 48 schools had Median 10 Year Earnings above the average of $42,700 for all schools.

The point of this is to show that there is no magic list of schools that will ensure a great fit at an affordable price. However, there are places you can start looking for affordable colleges.

The following list of 135 colleges and universities that meet the 75th percentile test scores discussed earlier. The four-year graduation rate is used for private schools, the five-year rate for public.

Alternatives to Top 100 National Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges
(Download PDF version)

Name	Type	State	Full- time Under- grads	4/5 yr Grad Rate	Avg Net Price After Gift Aid (2012-2013)
Birmingham Southern College	Private	AL	1167	53	23522
Samford University	Private	AL	2850	49	25626
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Public	AL	8357	46	13745
University of Alabama in Huntsville	Public	AL	4237	37	13208
Harding University	Private	AR	4105	40	16578
John Brown University	Private	AR	1571	55	17552
Lyon College	Private	AR	562	43	14307
University of Arkansas	Public	AR	18565	55	12057
Arizona State University-Tempe	Public	AZ	34989	55	12380
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott	Private	AZ	1753	37	34426
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	Public	CA	18058	61	17365
Chapman University	Private	CA	5753	59	32932
Loyola Marymount University	Private	CA	5935	67	36650
Mills College	Private	CA	922	53	26773
Point Loma Nazarene University	Private	CA	2483	62	29013
Santa Clara University	Private	CA	5338	77	38844
University of the Pacific	Private	CA	3780	40	33437
Vanguard University of Southern California	Private	CA	1576	47	22744
Eckerd College	Private	FL	1947	59	30352
Florida Institute of Technology	Private	FL	3068	39	32192
Rollins College	Private	FL	2366	61	32225
Stetson University	Private	FL	2692	56	21975
University of Central Florida	Public	FL	36229	61	15033
University of South Florida-Main Campus	Public	FL	23734	57	11335
Berry College	Private	GA	2107	50	22978
Covenant College	Private	GA	1050	48	21500
Mercer University	Private	GA	3659	44	19733
Coe College	Private	IA	1351	61	20934
Dordt College	Private	IA	1345	54	24028
Drake University	Private	IA	3185	61	26330
Iowa State University	Public	IA	26177	63	14095
Northwest Nazarene University	Private	ID	1136	32	18969
Bradley University	Private	IL	4618	55	25683
DePaul University	Private	IL	13594	54	29165
Illinois Institute of Technology	Private	IL	2712	32	21201
Lake Forest College	Private	IL	1571	58	25312
School of the Art Institute of Chicago	Private	IL	2469	31	43489
Butler University	Private	IN	3974	51	30991
Goshen College	Private	IN	745	54	19773
Hanover College	Private	IN	1158	68	22398
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	Private	IN	2186	66	36613
Taylor University	Private	IN	1852	65	25126
University of Evansville	Private	IN	2290	53	21224
Valparaiso University	Private	IN	3136	58	21869
Benedictine College	Private	KS	1750	43	22242
University of Kansas	Public	KS	17193	56	16923
University of Kentucky	Public	KY	19884	55	14839
University of Louisville	Public	KY	12426	47	13875
Centenary College of Louisiana	Private	LA	571	49	19845
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College	Public	LA	22811	62	12882
Loyola University New Orleans	Private	LA	2741	44	23419
Babson College	Private	MA	2106	84	25041
Bentley University	Private	MA	4142	81	30501
Emerson College	Private	MA	3668	80	33371
Gordon College	Private	MA	1668	58	28500
Simmons College	Private	MA	1577	66	29907
Loyola University Maryland	Private	MD	3951	79	31306
Maryland Institute College of Art	Private	MD	1759	67	37718
University of Maryland-Baltimore County	Public	MD	9508	59	14321
Calvin College	Private	MI	3814	57	25100
Kettering University	Private	MI	1590	11	31875
Lawrence Technological University	Private	MI	1536	16	24908
Michigan Technological University	Public	MI	5198	58	15434
University of Detroit Mercy	Private	MI	2196	35	24223
Bethel University	Private	MN	2614	63	26837
Concordia College at Moorhead	Private	MN	2488	62	21075
University of Minnesota-Morris	Public	MN	1815	61	14536
University of St Thomas	Private	MN	6065	63	32392
Drury University	Private	MO	3008	32	21357
Missouri University of Science and Technology	Public	MO	5472	56	15191
Rockhurst University	Private	MO	1546	60	18784
Truman State University	Public	MO	5375	70	13060
University of Missouri-Columbia	Public	MO	25258	67	16884
William Jewell College	Private	MO	1012	50	21859
Mississippi State University	Public	MS	15048	55	15422
William Carey University	Private	MS	1886	46	14536
Campbell University	Private	NC	3537	39	26163
Elon University	Private	NC	5464	77	30272
Creighton University	Private	NE	3815	67	27057
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Public	NE	18102	61	15132
The College of New Jersey	Public	NJ	6455	82	18464
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	Public	NM	1418	38	10735
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences	Private	NY	1059	72	29346
Clarkson University	Private	NY	3084	61	25782
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art	Private	NY	863	68	17263
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College	Public	NY	10396	60	7955
Hofstra University	Private	NY	6378	50	30947
Houghton College	Private	NY	1023	65	20920
Polytechnic Institute of New York University	Private	NY	2033	33	28986
Rochester Institute of Technology	Private	NY	12106	28	27639
SUNY College at Geneseo	Public	NY	5386	77	15917
Cedarville University	Private	OH	3044	61	22648
Franciscan University of Steubenville	Private	OH	1989	61	24474
Ohio Northern University	Private	OH	2194	53	24002
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	Public	OH	20332	58	19310
University of Dayton	Private	OH	7455	60	30416
Oklahoma Christian University	Private	OK	1874	28	19124
Oklahoma City University	Private	OK	1754	49	25056
Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	Public	OK	17793	55	14415
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	Public	OK	17559	59	16780
University of Portland	Private	OR	3410	70	30273
Elizabethtown College	Private	PA	1808	71	26528
Grove City College	Private	PA	2438	77	18272
Messiah College	Private	PA	2701	71	25639
Villanova University	Private	PA	6547	86	30587
Providence College	Private	RI	3798	83	34388
Rhode Island School of Design	Private	RI	2005	72	34259
College of Charleston	Public	SC	9708	62	16628
North Greenville University	Private	SC	1993	41	14954
Presbyterian College	Private	SC	1087	60	17186
University of South Carolina-Columbia	Public	SC	22533	70	17220
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	Public	SD	1950	40	15862
Belmont University	Private	TN	5117	56	30357
Lipscomb University	Private	TN	2590	44	22243
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Public	TN	19799	62	16062
Union University	Private	TN	2175	51	21944
Dallas Baptist University	Private	TX	2463	43	21724
LeTourneau University	Private	TX	1333	34	21474
The University of Texas at Dallas	Public	TX	10635	59	8064
Trinity University	Private	TX	2111	72	26013
University of Dallas	Private	TX	1365	56	27841
University of St Thomas	Private	TX	1269	27	21900
Westminster College	Private	UT	2140	43	22688
Christopher Newport University	Public	VA	4962	64	20328
Randolph College	Private	VA	649	46	22498
Champlain College	Private	VT	2332	50	32105
Saint Michael's College	Private	VT	1959	69	28218
Gonzaga University	Private	WA	4826	71	30181
Northwest University	Private	WA	1221	37	18923
Pacific Lutheran University	Private	WA	3010	55	24489
Seattle Pacific University	Private	WA	3230	54	25990
Seattle University	Private	WA	4377	59	34340
Western Washington University	Public	WA	12942	64	14253
Milwaukee School of Engineering	Private	WI	2284	39	22347
Ripon College	Private	WI	888	60	20602