Jack P. Carroll ‘24
Managing Editor
GradReports ranked Trinity the 17th best college for a bachelor’s degree in the country earlier this year.
GradReports ranks colleges and universities based on their proprietary Salary Score, a number which reflects median alumni earnings in the year after graduation. GradReports evaluated institutions using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s 2020 December College Scorecard.
Trinity received a Salary Score of 95 out of 100 at the bachelor degree level. This score was developed using data from 333 students in 15 bachelor’s programs. Among the bachelor’s programs with the highest individual Salary Scores were English (100) and Political Science (99).
The median salary and debt for Trinity English majors were $45,700 and $23,000 respectively. For Political Science majors, the median salary and debt after graduation were $52,730 and $25,000.
Trinity was ahead of its peer NESCAC institutions with the exception of Amherst College which ranked #13. The rankings placed Williams at #34; Hamilton and Middlebury landed at #48 and #49 respectively. Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Tufts, and Connecticut College did not appear on GradReports’ list of 50 U.S. colleges and universities.
GradReports is a product owned by the higher education research company Optimal. On its website, GradReports presents its rankings as an alternative to the U.S. News and World Report which evaluates colleges “based on prestige and focuses on affluent students and schools rather than data-driven student outcomes.”
U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges and universities using a number of factors including standardized test scores, alumni giving, and graduation and retention rates. Schools are given an overall score out of 100.
In September, the Tripod reported that the U.S. News and World Report rankings for 2021 placed Trinity at #44 among National Liberal Arts Colleges. Trinity received a score of 74 out of 100. Chief of Staff and Vice President for External Affairs Jason Rojas previously told the Tripod that though “rankings are not an adequate reflection of quality, we are pleased that others are taking notice of our progress and that measures in which we improved aligned with the things we care about.”
The same month, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (WSJ/THE) College Rankings for 2021 ranked Trinity at #92 among almost 800 universities nationwide. Unlike U.S. News, the WSJ/THE does not distinguish between national universities and national liberal arts colleges.
Other salary-based rankings include Georgetown University’s return on investment (ROI) rankings of 4,500 U.S. colleges and universities published in 2020. Trinity ranked 10th among all national liberal arts colleges for return on investment, ahead of all its peer NESCAC institutions except for Bowdoin and Amherst which placed 8th and 9th respectively.
As of Sunday, July 25, Trinity College has not released a statement about GradReports’ rankings.
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