Note: this page is still work in progress and more details will be filled in later.
Investing in a college education boosts one’s knowledge and skill. It enables one to contribute to society and improves the lives of those in your family, community, state, country and the world. With greater value contribution one’s income is also enhanced. The new skills will enable more job opportunities through a wider professional network. A college education expands one’s understanding of the world and other cultures. It helps a person produce better ideas and decisions through encounters with professors and students from different states and countries who have different backgrounds.
According 2020 data from Bureau of Labor Statistics, income goes up with education and unemployment rate goes down the higher the education level achieved.
https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2021/data-on-display/education-pays.htm
| Educational attainment | Hr Rate | Median usual weekly earnings | Annual Salary | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctoral degree | $47.125 | $1,885 | $98,020 | 2.5 |
| Professional degree | $47.33 | $1,893 | $98,436 | 3.1 |
| Master’s degree | $38.63 | $1,545 | $80,340 | 4.1 |
| Bachelor’s degree | $32.63 | $1,305 | $67,860 | 5.5 |
| Associate degree | $23.45 | $938 | $48,776 | 7.1 |
| Some college, no degree | $21.93 | $877 | $45,604 | 8.3 |
| High school diploma, no college | $19.53 | $781 | $40,612 | 9.0 |
| Less than a high school diploma | $15.48 | $619 | $32,188 | 11 |
There are thousands of 4 year universities and colleges but the outcome for their students and their costs vary. As with investing in stocks we should get to know the universities to pick the best fit. When deciding which one to attend or as parents which school to send your children, we can compare and analyze universities and colleges to find the best value for the best return on investment. The decision of which school to attend will vary by individual but we will go over some fundamental metrics that should be considered when making the decision.
Where to get information about colleges
There are several good resources for data on colleges.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is a US government site that provides important objective stats to evaluate colleges.
IES’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produces the College Navigator: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ The College Navigator provides tuition cost, room and board, number of students, gender and ethnic distribution of students, number of faculty, 4, 6, 8 year graduation rate, and admission rate for schools. The site also lists the number of degrees given out for each major offered by a school. You will also fine statistics on campus safety. It shows crime reported on campus and on housing facilities.
The College Score Card is also an excellent US government resource for comparing colleges and exploring career options. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov. The site shows the median income of graduates and the 6-year graduation rate.
Most universities publish stats about their school in the Common Data Set report. The easiest way to obtain this report is by Googling or Bing search, “common data set <school name>” or to get move recent report try Googling , “common data set <school name> <current year or last year>”.
There is lot of different places that rank colleges and their ranking methodologies and emphasis varies. In one ranking a college may be top 100 but is 300 in another ranking. https://www.universityguru.com is a free resource that collects all those rankings and displays them in nice single dashboard. It is like a directory for college rankings and a great starting place. Like stock chart, it displays some of the key rankings in a graphical form so it’s easier to spot trends. A stable or rising ranking is a good but continuous decline may be sign of trouble for a university.
US News publishes a ranking of colleges each year. Criteria they used changed for 2023 with more emphasis on social mobility, return on investment, graduation rate and salary and less on student size and alumni donation. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities
Money magazine publishes two college rankings. The main one at https://money.com/best-colleges/ focuses on value and excludes selective schools. Most students have a good chance of getting in these schools. The schools with less than 20% acceptance rate are ranked separately in a selective listing at https://money.com/best-colleges/rankings/best-selective-colleges/. Acceptance into selective schools is not easy, difficult to predict and can vary due to the needs of the university and large number outstanding applicants. Usually students would apply to schools from the selective list aka stretch schools and the main list or reachable schools. In either list the schools within their lists can be compared. Both lists show the colleges and their cost, acceptance rate, graduation rate and early career earnings for graduates in a nice table. The next sections in this article will cover what these metrics mean.
Times Higher Education (THE) ranks universities globally. https://www.timeshighereducation.com. They judge universities on the learning environment, research, research citations, industry income and international outlook. There top US globally ranked universities for 2023 can be found here: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023/world-ranking#!/length/25/locations/USA/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats
ShanghaiRanking‘s Academic Ranking of World Universities ranking focus on academic standing of universities. It rates universities by the output by alumni and staff. It counts the number of publication to Nature and Science. It awards points for number and staff who has won Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals or that are highly cited researchers. https://www.shanghairanking.com/methodology/arwu/2023
Niche is a good resource for college stats and student reviews.
The University of California system publishes detail information about the California High Schools where students have applied and the mean GPA of students who are admitted and enrolled. That data can be queried from https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/admissions-source-school. University of California system also includes student profiles of its freshman class in https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/freshman-admissions-summary. The admissions summary page shows the historic admission rate for a various high school GPA ranges starting from 1994 to current year.
College Confidential at https://www.collegeconfidential.com has a large community of parents, students, and college representatives with lively discussions on college admission.
The College Metropolis podcast https://www.collegemetropolis.com is hosted by Anthony and Jankel Cadavid who are parents and also higher education advocates. Anthony is a professor in the LA area and Jankel is an expert in college admissions. Their hour long podcasts are entertaining and provide good information on how students can prepare for success in high school, how to select college for best fit and how to apply to college and financial aid. They want students to focus on what they can do to be the person they wish to become when they grow up. To save time, you can listen at 1.25x speed.
Important College Comparision Metrics
Here are some metrics to consider.
Start with the goal
What are your goals for college? Start with a picture of the person you want to become. There are many benefits to attending college but it is not for everyone and some jobs don’t require college. Is it to pursue a Phd and research in depth in a particular area? Do you need to learn the skills to join a certain industry? Do you want to join the military service? There are so many career opportunities. Do you want to be a teacher, professor, nurse, doctor, pilot, lawyer, civil engineer, social worker, politician, astronaut, hotel manager, industrial engineer, chef? These answers will help you narrow down the school list.
What to major in or study?
What to study in college is an important decision. Due to supply and demand and skill requirements, some careers pay significantly more than others. The medical field for example always have a shortage and salaries are high. Technology is another area that is in demand and always changes. To help decide what area to study, it helps to get a sense of what a job pays and the future outlook for the industry. It’s best if what you are interested in is in high demand. Selecting a major or a career path doesn’t mean you have to give up on learning about something else you like more but doesn’t pay as well. Usually there is time for both your career and other interests and hobbies if you exercise good time management. By following prudent spending habits and making sound financial choices, one can reach financial freedom and retire early and then pursuit his or her other interests that had been on hold. On the other hand selecting a major with poor career options can lead to financial hardship and long working hours which leaves you with less free time for your hobbies and family.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a report on recent graduates released on February 22, 2024. https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#–:explore:outcomes-by-major. In that report the top median mid career majors are:
| Major | Median Wage Early Career | Median Wage Mid Career |
| Chemical Engineering | $79,000 | $133,000 |
| Computer Engineering | $80,000 | $125,000 |
| Aerospace Engineering | $74,000 | $120,000 |
| Electrical Engineering | $72,000 | $112,000 |
| Mechanical Engineering | $70,000 | $111,000 |
| Computer Science | $78,000 | $110,000 |
The Department of Labor has created O*Net Online https://www.onetonline.org to help with career search. It has general salary data for all kinds of occupations, jobs and positions. The details on a particular occupation include median salary, what the work entails, what tasks will be performed and what typically happens in a day’s work. It also lists the skills and education requirements.
The O*Net Online site shows which jobs are experiencing rapid growth under the Bright Outlook Occupations link based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
bankrate.com did a write up on the most valuable majors and it find an engineering degree offers good income and employment.
It used data 2019 data from IPUMS USA hosted by the University of Minnesota. IPUMS USA data requires an account but there’s a web app that is open to all at: https://usa.abacus.ipums.org/#/tabulator/.
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/most-valuable-college-majors/
Georgetown University published a report in 2021 titled, “The College Payoff More Education Doesn’t Always Mean More Earnings”. The authors of the report are Anthony Carnevale, Ban Cheah and Emma Wenzinger. Page 11 of the report has the headline ” Earnings Vary Substantially by Undergraduate Major”. It had table of lifetime earnings for different majors. Architecture and engineering at the top with 25%, 50% and 75% at 2.6M, 3.8M, and 5.1M. Computers, statistics, and mathematics was second at 2.4M, 3.6M, and 4.9M. Business is 2M, 3M, and 4.4M. Education is at the bottom with 1.5M, 2M, and 2.7M. Second from the back is Psychology and social work at 1.6M, 2.2M, and 3.2M. https://cewgeorgetown.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/cew-college_payoff_2021-fr.pdf
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) publishes starting salary for college graduate by major. A summary of that report for Winter 2021 showed, Computer Science number 1 at $72,173, Engineering $71,088, Math & Sciences $63,316, Humanities – $59,919, Business – $58,869, Communications – $58,174, Agriculture – $54,857.
It’s important to note that these numbers are median salaries. In any field, the top 10% of a field can earn significantly more than the median. A top business major graduate at a top university with several completed internships can command a $1 million dollar salary at a hedge fund for an example. Therefore it’s important to also consider your interests when evaluating the economic benefits of a major. The chance you will do well in a major is better if it’s something you are passionate about.
Outcome for students, Graduation and retention rate
One measure of school’s effectiveness is the school’s graduation rate. The graduation rate can be affected by many factors. Availability and ease of signing up for required courses is one factor. Student support such as free math and science tutoring, free writing clinics by English majors, discussion groups and office hours with professor can boost learning and improving odds that a student will successfully complete a course. The graduation rate is not perfect and there are some factors affecting graduation rate which may be out of the control of the university. Nevertheless, the graduation rate is an important metric to look at.
Retention rate shows what percentage of students return after the first year. A high retention rate indicates students are happy with the school and it is a good fit for them.
How much will it cost?
Unless you are in the 1% and ultra rich, most of us have budgets and have to stay within spending limits. Getting the highest quality of education and earning outcome should come at price that you can afford. If a school stretches the budget too far, it may be better to look for school that is more affordable. While taking on student loans can allow one to defer payment on tuition, having to carry a loan can be really stressful after graduation, a huge financial burden and affect or delay family life choices. Therefore student debt is best avoided or minimized if at all possible. If a student loan is unavoidable, the job income enabled by the degree should be analyzed to ensure the student debt can be paid off in a reasonable amount of time. For example, if getting a degree costs $100k in debt and enables a career that has annual income of only $30k then it would not make much sense since it will take a long time to pay off the loan. On the other hand if the degree costs $100k but enables a career that makes $75k, then it’s more reasonable and paying off the loan is not that far off.
The cost of attending a university is composed of primarily the annual tuition, room and board, and supplies and miscellaneous feeds. When comparing cost of universities, it is important so add in all the costs that apply to your specific situation. For example, if you will be staying home and commuting to school, you can ignore the room and board. However, if you will be living away from home, and stay in a dorm, you need to look at both tuition combined with the room and board. Room and board cost varies by where the school is located. In a major city, expect to pay higher room and board vs a rural school.
Lets a look at an example. Purdue University, a high ranking engineering and science school is located in West Lafayette, Indiana and has a low room and board of $10,030 for 2024. See: https://admissions.purdue.edu/costsandfinaid/tuitionfees.php. Their out of state tuition for US residents is $28,794. These specific programs has additional costs: Computer Science – $2,050, Data Science – $2,050, Engineering – $2,050, Agricultural and Biological Engineering – $2,050, Management – $1,436, Purdue Polytechnic – $572. Even adding $2,050 for Engineering, the tuition and room and board, comes out to be 30,844 + 10,030 = $38,874. Contrast this with a high cost of living region like UCLA. For 2024, UCLA’s housing and food cost is posted at https://admission.ucla.edu/tuition-aid/tuition-fees and comes out to be $18,369. Out of state tuition is $15,154 + out of state adjustment $34,200 = $49,300. Combined tuition with room and board, UCLA for non resident is $67,669. For Californian, in state price of tuition and room and board is $15,154 + $18,369 = $33,523 comes close to the out of state price for Purdue University.
Student loan is not the only way to pay for college. There are several ways to lower cost and attend college debt free. In a documentary on Amazon Prime about student debt and the student loan industry called Borrowed Future, a student found a way to fill in the $14,000 tuition gap by trading and selling lawn movers and taking on a part time job.
Other ways to lower cost of college include attending 2 years of community college and then transfer to a 4 year university to complete the remaining 2 years. The first 2 years of college tend to have general subjects like English and Calculus and beginner level classes. These classes are similar to those at a community college. Counselors at community college can help your map the classes you need to transfer to your target school. The degree awards will be identical to a student who attended the entire 4 years. The cost of the 2 years at community college would cost significantly less and this is especially true if it’s a local community college and you can live at home. To go this route the students must maintain good grades. Admissions to some selective colleges as a transfer may require GPA 3.0, 3.5 or higher.
Living at home is another way to lower cost if the school is nearby. Staying home is usually cheaper than paying for room and board and staying in a school dorm.
Making your own lunch and skip the meal plan can also bring in some savings.
Apply for financial aid and complete the FAFSA form. Aid can come in a couple for forms. 1) Grants may be available from the Federal government or your school. Grant is free money to be used for college that you don’t have to pay back. 2) Work study programs to let you work part time while studying to pay for college. 3) Loans is money that you will have to pay back. Loans are to be avoided. Go to https://studentaid.gov to create an ID an apply.
Applying for scholarship is another way to pay for college. The College Board has a scholarship search and match service at https://scholarships.collegeboard.org.
University of Southern California (USC) has scholarship for National Merit Finalist for the first year that cuts tuition by half or about $33,320. More information of its available scholarship can be found at: https://admission.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/scholarships-grid.pdf
Alumni Salary – How much will students earn after graduation?
This metric points to the median income of a school’s graduates. Since each major has different income potential, your major will have a greater influence. The school’s median student income provides a general idea of how employable their graduates are and how popular the school is with potential employers. Does a company you like to work for recruit from the university? If a company you like to work for does not come to the university you will need to make an extra effort to reach out to them.
Be careful comparing specialized STEM schools with those that offer a broad list of majors. STEM schools tend to have higher averages.
Quality of professors
Professors come in variety of teaching styles and backgrounds. Their teaching effectiveness varies too. A school that have lots of awarding winner professors especially those related to teaching is a good indicator. Awards from industry and academic societies recognize the research contributions of professors. A school with an award winning professor is a big plus if they teach in an area you are interested in. You will be learning from the best mind in the field. These professors may be doing cutting edge research and have numerous research ideas to move the field forward. In science and literature, the Nobel Prize is a high honor. For math, it’s the Fields Medal. For Computer Science the Turing Award is the highest distinction. The best A school’s website generally have profiles on professors . Another source of information on a school’s professors is the Rate My Professor site has professor and school ratings and anonymous reviews written by students. From the main site, enter the school name. Select the school profile. Once in the school main page, click on View All Professors. Once on the professors listing, use the Department combo box to select a department where you will taking classes to narrow down the list to relevant professors. Since these reviews are anonymous, not all the reviews are accurate. It helps to read more reviews, good and bad to get a general rating of a professor and also check that the number of reviews is large enough so the sample size is meaningful.
Quality of students
In a school’s Common Data Set report, there is field call C12 in the 2021-2022 form that shows the average high school GPA of the students who received acceptance and enrolled. For example, the University of Oregon’s 2021-2022 showed their average GPA is 3.73 with 99.6% of students reporting. This data shows the academic preparedness and achievement of the students you will encounter at that university. A school with highly motivated and prepared learners is great for the school and lift all students. If your GPA is too far below the school’s mean GPA, it might mean getting into that school will be a challenge.
Some schools emphasize a collaborative atmosphere on their campus. Their assignments would typically have groups of students working together. When they admit students, they look for students that have demonstrated good collaboration and empathy and the student body as a whole demonstrates those attributes.
When you do tour a college campus, you could engage with their students. You could ask how they like their school, what they are studying, ask for directions, restaurant recommendations or ask to borrow their pencil. Perform this a couple of times and you have a sense of how helpful their students are toward visitors and other students and how they feel about their school.
Size of School – number of students
Schools come in many sizes. Some are as big a as city like Arizona State University Tempe which has 54,866 in Fall 2021 according to its Facts and Figures page. CalTech’s at a glance page on their website lists 982 undergraduates and 1,419 graduate students is much smaller. Smaller schools tend to have a smaller teach to student ratio. A smaller student to teacher ratio is preferred and the professors can give each student more individual attention.
Public or Private School?
Public schools tended to be bigger than private schools. Private schools in general cost more than public school. The National Center of Education Statistics’s Tuition costs of colleges and universities page lists the annual tuition cost of public 4 year university average at $9,400 and the average for private nonprofit is $37,600. The private schools with large endowment can offer financial aid to low income students. Problem is if your household income is too high to be considered low income and qualify for any aid but at the time your income level is not high enough to comfortably absorb the cost. In that case, the private tuition can be a burden. If you are in this category, the good news is there are plenty of great public university. Forbes 2022 best universities calculated their rankings using these weights:
20% Alumni Salary, 15% Student debt, 15% Graduation Rate, Graduates making Forbes American Leaders List (15%), Return-on-Investment (15%), Retention Rate (10%), and Academic Success – Students winning awards and going on to PhD (10%).
Based on the above critera, MIT which is a private STEM focus school wins the #1 slot. University of California, Berkeley, a public university went toe to toe and danced with MIT followed closely behind tied at #2 with Stanford University which is a private school.
A student’s outcome isn’t guaranteed by attending a particular school. The school will play a part in a student’s success but it’s not the only factor. A bigger factor will come down to the effort the student puts in and his or her motivation and ambition. Majority of students in the country attend a public university and many lead productive and successful lives.
What is the admission rate?
The selectivity or admission rate measures how difficult it is to get accepted into a school. It can be a sign of quality, influence, good reputation, name recognition and impact the school have in society. The school may earned the reputation from the research and discoveries made by its professors and students, companies their students and professors created, the atheletics achievements of their students or the professional awards and recognition earned by their professors. A selective school will have a large number of applicants but it will unfortunately need to turn away many of them due to limited space availability. A student will need to be a strong candidate to get into a selective school. A lesser selective school does not mean it is inferior and could still be an excellent fit for a student and it is the reason we should look at the many other metrics discussed in this article. A school may be strong but is less selective due its less desirable isolated location away from the beach or farther from a big city for example and fewer students apply.
Regardless of selectivity, schools generally look for students who:
- have high likelihood to excel and graduate on time in college
- are organized
- have proven track record of excellence
- takes and succeeds on the most rigorous classes offered by their school
- takes initiative to learn beyond what is offered by their school such as dual enrollment at a community college or takes on line classes
- are friendly to others
- have contributed to their school and community and likely to contribute to their college and society
- are reliable and had work experience
- have strong ethics
- demonstrated ability to overcome obstacles and hardship
Some of these qualities can be validated by your high school transcripts which shows the classes you’ve taken and the grade you achieved. Colleges like to see students challenge themselves by taking AP and honors classes. These classes are close to the intensity level of college classes and allow colleges to predict how well the student might perform in college. Other qualities school look for will come through in the college application essay about your activities outside of school. The essay is also an opportunity to explain any bad marks on the transcript, describe your unique background, demonstrate your achievements and strengths and your potential.
Quality of climate and campus safety
You should be aware of a school’s general climate to avoid surprises. Some schools are in cold climate with four seasons and others might be sunny year round. School safety is also important. A school with large number of crimes reported is a red flag.
Sample Comparison of Universities
This section goes over a sample of popular universities in the West Coast using data source mentioned at the beginning of this page. GPA data extracted from the school’s latest common data set document from either 2022-2022 or 2021-2022. When that’s not available such as Oregon State, we use the next latest available data set. Oregon State GPA data uses common data set from 2019-2020. UC Irvine uses GPA data from 2018-2019 since their current common data sets did not provide GPA data. The list of schools in this example comparison includes the following:
- University of Washington – Seattle
- University of Oregon
- Oregon State University
- University of California Davis
- University of California Berkeley
- University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
- University of California Merced
- University of California Irvine
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of California Santa Cruz
- University of California Riverside
- University of California San Diego
- California State University San Diego
- California State University Sacramento
- Arizona State University – Tempe
- University of Arizona
- California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
- University of Southern California (USC)
- Stanford University
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
- University of Maryland College Park
For cost, assuming you qualify for in-state tuition, California State University Sacramento is the most affordable at $7, 484. Calpoly San Luis Obispo is second at $12,204 and University of Washington Seattle is third as $12,242. Rate is significantly higher if you pay out of state or non resident rate.
For 6 year graduation rate, first place goes to Stanford at 96%, followed by CalTech 93% and third is UC Berkeley 93%.
For income after graduation, first place is CalTech $112.2k, second place is Stanford $97.8k and third is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo $80.6k. The income tended to be higher for STEM jobs.
| School | Tuition In-State | Tuition Out of State | Room and Board | 2022 U.S. News National Rank | 6 or 8 year Graduation Rate (began 2013) | 4 year Graduation Rate (Began 2015) | Median Earnings | % GPA 4.0 | % GPA 3.75-3.99 | % GPA 3.5 – 3.74 | % GPA 3.25-3.49 | % GPA 3.00 – 3.24 | % GPA 2.50 – 2.99 | % GPA 2.00 – 2.49 | Average Incoming Freshman HS GPA | Number of Students | Criminal Offenses (2021) | Arrests (2021) | Student Teacher Ratio | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington-Seattle | $12,242 | $40,740 | $16,068 | 55 | 84% | 71% | $68,925 | 13.67% | 59.77% | 19.60% | 5.10% | 1.52% | 0.30% | 0.04% | 3.82 | 31,145 | 148 | 3 | 21:1 | 56% |
| University of Oregon – Eugene | $15,054 | $41,699 | $12,593 | 105 | 74% | 61% | $53,472 | 28% | 23% | 22% | 15% | 9% | 3% | 0% | 3.73 | 17,972 | 49 | 3 | 18:1 | 84% |
| Oregon State – Corvallis | $13,191 | $34,983 | $14,238 | 151 | 68% | 41% | $56,619 | 10.64% | 33.02% | 24.88% | 15.86% | 12.12% | 3.42% | 0.06% | 3.62 | 35,239 | 49 | 2 | 18:1 | 82% |
| UC Davis | $13,104 | $31,026 | $17,880 | 38 | 87% | 62% | $69,766 | 64.7% | 21.2% | 8.8% | 3.6% | 1.2% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 4.0 | 31,142 | 214 | 18 | 21:1 | 46% |
| UC Berkeley | $15,220 | $46,246 | $20,885 | 20 | 93% | 79% | $80,364 | 38.8% | 51.8% | 8.0% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 3.9 | 30,796 | 283 | 39 | 20:1 | 17% |
| UCLA | $14,478 | $47,052 | $17,297 | 20 | 92% | 83% | $73,744 | 55.4% | 36.4% | 5.7% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 3.92 | 31,636 | 99 | 77 | 18:1 | 14% |
| UC Irvine | $17,357 | $49,931 | $18,639 | 34 | 84% | 68% | $71,961 | 89% | 9% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 4.0 | 29,627 | 60 | 1 | 18:1 | 30% | |
| UC Riverside | $15,510 | $45,264 | $18,125 | 89 | 76% | 61% | $58,880 | 34.6% | 27.2% | 23.3% | 11.6% | 2.8% | 0.5% | 0% | 3.84 | 22,609 | 65 | 19 | 24:1 | 66% |
| UC Merced | $14,840 | $47,414 | $20,240 | 97 | 72% | 48% | $61,148 | 12% | 14% | 24% | 25% | 22% | 3% | 0% | 3.51 | 8,276 | 12 | 2 | 19:1 | 85% |
| UC Santa Cruz | $14,640 | $45,666 | $18,186 | 83 | 78% | 60% | $58,112 | 55.6% | 31.2% | 10.7% | 1.8% | 0.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3.98 | 17,207 | 36 | 3 | 23:1 | 65% |
| UC Santa Barbara | $14,985 | $46,011 | $16,515 | 32 | 85% | 70% | $66,491 | 88.01% | 7.37% | 3.71% | 0.62% | 0.19% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 4.29 | 23,166 | 51 | 20 | 17:1 | 37% |
| UC San Diego | $15,348 | $46,374 | $16,713 | 34 | 89% | 73% | $74,771 | 82.5% | 14.0% | 2.9% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.13 | 31,827 | 141 | 13 | 26:1 | 24% |
| California Institute of Technology | $60,816 | $60,816 | $19,503 | 9 | 93% | 86% | $112,166 | 901 | 12 | 1 | 3:1 | 7% | ||||||||
| Stanford | $58,416 | $58,416 | $18,619 | 3 | 96% | 77% | $97,798 | 70.7% | 22.9% | 4.0% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 3.95 | 7,761 | 114 | 8 | 5:1 | 5% |
| Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo | $12,204 | $31,388 | $16,377 | 85% | 57% | $80,643 | 64.74% | 23.13% | 8.90% | 2.60% | 0.61% | 0.02% | 0.0% | 4.04 | 21,451 | 46 | 4 | 19:1 | 38% | |
| Arizona State – Campus Immersion | $14,018 | $32,442 | $14,718 | 121 | 66% | 52% | $55,749 | 9.1% | 26.9% | 24.7% | 17.3% | 12.9% | 8.1% | 0.9% | 3.54 | 62,633 | 86 | 86 | 18:1 | 88% |
| University of Arizona | $13,200 | $39,600 | $14,400 | 105 | 64% | 50% | $55,205 | 18% | 26% | 17% | 13% | 12% | 14% | 1% | 3.53 | 34,659 | 64 | 67 | 17:1 | 85% |
| California State Sacramento | $7,484 | $16,988 | $16,278 | 69% | 20% | $56,814 | 12.22% | 15.05% | 18.32% | 19.37% | 16.93% | 15.05% | 3.03% | 3.42 | 29,228 | 37 | 6 | 22:1 | 83% | |
| University of Southern California | $66,640 | $66,640 | $19,200 | 25 | 93% | 79% | $83,426 | 26.25% | 49.67% | 16.57% | 4.73% | 1.59% | 1.06% | 0.13% | 3.83 | 19,521 | 116 | 6 | 9:1 | 16% |
| California State University San Diego | $8,136 | $20,170 | $19,189 | 151 | 76% | 48% | $59,027 | 41.0% | 29.5% | 18.1% | 7.8% | 2.8% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 3.87 | 31,293 | 91 | 38 | 25:1 | 37% |
| University of Maryland College Park | $9,886 | $38,688 | $15,100 | 55 | 88% | 72% | $72,000 | 91.97% | 4.09% | 1.83% | 1.19% | 0.60% | 0.28% | 0.04% | 4.43 | 40,792 | 32 | 1 | 18:1 | 52% |