Clark University appears in Forbes’ annual “America’s Top Colleges” report; it is #150 on the list of 650 schools recognized this year.

Besides the overall ranking, Clark appears as #112 in Private Colleges, #76 in Research Universities, and #71 in the Northeast.

This is the sixth year Forbes has partnered exclusively with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) to compile rankings that focus on quality of teaching, great career prospects, high graduation rates and low-levels of debt.

According to Caroline Howard, Forbes staff, the rapidly changing landscape in higher education is the theme of this year’s “Top Colleges.”

“What sets our calculation of 650 colleges and universities apart from other rankings is our firm belief in ‘output’ over ‘input.’ We’re not all that interested in what gets a student into college, like our peers who focus heavily on selectivity metrics such as high school class rank and SAT scores,” wrote Howard.  “Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting out of college.”

Forbes’ rankings are based on five general categories:  post-graduate success (37.5%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, student satisfaction (22.5%), 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 nationally competitive awards (11.25%), which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and fellowships like the Rhodes, the National Science Foundation and the Fulbright or go on to earn a Ph.D.

The rankings can be found at http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/.

To see what other lists include Clark, visit https://www.clarku.edu/about/rankings-and-recognition.

Related link:  https://www.clarku.edu/return-on-education/