Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking pleased with Best Value School ranking
Posted Friday, October 02, 2020
Author: Mickey Alvarado
Receiving a top ranking in the U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Value School — Regional Colleges Midwest” is something many colleges across the country strive for each year. That’s why Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking is particularly pleased in having Adrian College recently place 16th in the nation in the U.S. News’ Best Colleges rankings on best value schools for 2021.
“Being named one of the best value colleges in the country never gets old,” Docking said of this being the eighth consecutive year Adrian College has been on the Best Value Schools list. “Our financial aid department does an outstanding job helping students get into our classrooms. They stay there, in part, because of the commitment our campus community gives to seeing their success. ”
Before announcing that a college or university offers the best value, U.S. News & World Report calculates a school’s academic quality, as indicated in its 2021 Best Colleges ranking, and the 2019-2020 net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal, U.S. News & World Report notes, adding only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because it considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.
A student’s eligibility depends on their expected family contribution, year in school, enrollment status, and the cost of attendance the school they want to attend. The college’s financial aid office determines how much federal aid a student is eligible to receive.
“Adrian College meets 100 percent of established needs as a packaging practice,” Frank Hribar, vice president of enrollment and student affairs, said. “That means we package scholarships, need-based grants and then student loans to reduce the direct costs to meet the students’ Expected Family Contribution. For the lowest income students, the cost is reduced to meet their family’s needs.”
Adrian College has distributed over $40 million in institutional discounts to assist families and make the College affordable during this fiscal year. These discounts help defray a significant amount of the cost families actually pay.
Hribar said through aggressive fundraising efforts, resource development and partner organizations including the Michigan Colleges Foundation, Adrian College can discount tuition at a rate to make it affordable to even the most-needy students. In addition, the State of Michigan provides assistance specifically and directly to students attending private institutions through Michigan Tuition Grants.
“The result is, on the average, students actually pay about one-half of the “sticker price” at our institution,” Hribar said.
Something Hribar wants parents to consider is the total impact of tuition costs over the course of a student’s entire educational experience. As a whole, students at private colleges and other independent colleges and universities graduate in four years at twice the rate of their peers at other institutions. For every year students extend their stay, the cost factor is significantly increased. Add to that the fact that in many cases students who stay longer than four years exhaust many of their financial aid options — with the exception of loans. For every additional year spent in college, students bypass earning a salary. Students lose out on income because they are not able to enter the workforce as quickly.
“When factoring in lost income each year and compound that by factoring the value of delayed salary raises over the remainder of a career that are lost due entering the workforce a year later, the impact is startling,” Hribar said.
Jack Stover graduated from Adrian College last year with a major in international business, and minors in economics and German. He said the opportunities available at Adrian College helped prepare him for a lucrative career in the automotive industry. Stover became interested in the field when interning with Bosch and Plastic Omnium while at Adrian College. He hoped to find a full-time job in the industry, and did, quickly. Stover currently works as a Business Development Coordinator at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in Novi.
“Adrian College is the best place to become a leader because there are so many opportunities,” Stover said. “They have 67 organizations on campus, and you can use any experience to practice your leadership skills and see what works best for you to grow as an individual.
“Further than the classes and organizations at Adrian College, all of the faculty and staff members are willing to sit down and teach you, see where you are struggling and help you along your way,” Stover added. “I love Adrian College and all the great memories I have from my time there!”
Adrian College received 74 out of 100 points in the U.S. News & World Report’s overall score and placed 17th in the Regional Colleges Midwest division.
Forty percent of Adrian College’s ranking came from its success at retaining and graduating students within 150% of normal time (six years), graduate indebtedness, and social mobility factors. Graduation rates themselves have the highest weight in the “Outcomes” ranking category as degree completion is necessary to receive the full benefits of undergraduate study from employers and graduate schools. U.S. News approached outcomes from angles of graduation and retention (22%), graduation rate performance (8%), social mobility (5%) and, new this year, graduate indebtedness (5%).
Twenty percent of Adrian College’s score came from “Expert Opinion,” with a Peer Assessment Score,” and another 20% came from “Faculty Resources” for the 2019-2020 Academic Year.
Faculty Resources considers “Class Size Index, Faculty Compensation, Percent of Faculty with Terminal Degree in their Field, Percent of Faculty who are full-time, and Student-Faculty Ratio.”
“Our commitment to providing the best education a student can get for the money is evident in the number of times we have made the ‘Best Value’ list,” Andrea Milner, Adrian College vice president and dean of academic affairs, said.
Other ranking factors include “Financial Resources (10%),” “Student Excellence (7%)” and “Alumni Giving (3%).”
Additional U.S. News & World Report ranking information can be found at www.usnews.com.
For more information on Adrian College, visit adrian.edu.
