UC Berkeley was ranked third in Money magazine’s list of the 25 “Best Public Colleges for Big Paychecks,” released Thursday.
Money ranked each college by taking into account its 20-year return on investment for in-state tuition, according to the magazine’s website. Additionally, the ranking factored in each college’s six-year graduation rate, eliminating schools where less than 75 percent of students could earn a degree within that time period. UC Berkeley was outranked by Colorado School of Mines, which was ranked first, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, which came in second.
Public colleges from 15 different states made the list, with the majority of the schools coming from California. Like UC Berkeley, many of the schools on the list are known for their strong science and technology programs.
“That’s a good list to be on. Everyone wants to earn money after college,” said campus senior Huda Iftekhar. “I’m not surprised because I know Berkeley’s a really prestigious university. … Students are used to working really hard … for that success.”
Campus freshman Fernanda Aguila said she was “happy” to hear about Berkeley’s third-place ranking.
“Years here aren’t going to be easy, and the money we pay to go here is not easy,” Aguila said. “Just focusing on Berkeley and how it works at Berkeley — that’s awesome.”
Other campus students, however, expressed concern about the rankings. Campus freshman Magali de Sauvage said she believed students shouldn’t choose UC Berkeley simply for a potential paycheck.
Sterling Tuma, a campus sophomore, called the list “cool,” but added that majors play a large factor in this ranking. According to Tuma, the ranking is “not actually holistic and accurate for every student.”
“I think the ranking is fair as it is, knowing the … academic rigor that is placed onto its students,” said campus freshman Wesley Im. “As we graduate and move into the adult world, it is important to have that self-motivation and it makes you more qualified in my opinion to work in the professional field. What you take out of it is what you put forth.”
