Houghton College is ranked in the top four percent of colleges nationwide according to the fifth annual ranking of America’s Top Colleges, compiled by Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP).
According to Forbes, the annual ranking focuses on the things that matter the most to students: quality of teaching, career prospects, graduation rates, and low levels of debt.
To address these concerns, the staff at CCAP gathered data from a variety of sources. The rankings are based on five categories: postgraduate success (32.5%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence; student satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates; debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates; four-year graduation rate (11.25%) and competitive awards (11.25%), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships; and fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall, and the Fulbright or go on to earn a Ph.D.
Houghton College ranked 317 from over 7,150 colleges and universities throughout the United States, placing Houghton in the top four percent of all public and private schools.