For the third consecutive year, Forbes reports that a Catawba College education is well worth its cost. And Forbes claims the proof of that is in the alumni giving.
Catawba is one of only six institutions in North Carolina making Forbes' Grateful Graduates Index 2015. The Index ranks the best long-term value, or return-on-investment (ROI) of the top 150 private, not-for profit colleges enrolling more than 1,000 students.
In addition to Catawba, other institutions in North Carolina making the 2015 Index include Davidson College (7), Duke University (13), Wake Forest University (45), Catawba College (92), Queens University (107), and Salem College (132). Catawba was also among institutions included in Forbes' Index in 2013 and 2014, while Queens and Salem are new additions to the Index this year.
To determine which colleges provide the best return on investment, Forbes shares that it has "a simple alternative ROI measure called the Grateful Graduates Index which ranks colleges by the median amount of private donations per student over a 10-year period." This the online Forbes' Index contends provides "prospective students and parents a quantifiable measure of colleges worth."
According to Forbes, "the idea is that the best colleges are the ones that produce successful people who make enough money during their careers to be charitable, and feel compelled to give back to their alma mater. In Many ways the private not-for-profit college business model is all about admitting and producing the best crop of future donors.
"In order to level the playing field for colleges that produce lots of grateful grads in lower paying fields like education, academia or government service, we also factor in 3-year alumni participation rates, which show the percentage of alumni who donate each year regardless of the amount. In other words, we let alumni dollars and devotion determine successful outcomes."
Catawba's 10-year median for private donations, according to Forbes' Grateful Grads Index, was $7,242, with its average alumni participation rate of 17%.
Forbes' 2015 Grateful Grads Index is available at www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2015/07/29/top-50-roi-colleges-2015-grateful-grads-index.
