Spring Break
Error drops Univ. in magazine rankings
VINCE HAMPTON
Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: News
The University has dropped from first to fourth place in SmartMoney Magazine's "Best Colleges for Making Money" ranking due to an error in the data the University's Office of Public Affairs sent to the magazine.
The office originally sent SmartMoney tuition data that did not reflect the University's transfer from a quarterly system to a semester system in 1998.
"Those figures should have been tripled instead of doubled," said Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs, in a phone interview Wednesday.
Efforts to reach a representative of SmartMoney Magazine were unsuccessful as of Wednesday.
As a result of the incorrect data, the payback ratio for University graduates was mistakenly high.
In an online update to the original article, SmartMoney states the error was discovered following an "inquiry from another school."
2 University of Texas, Austin
3 Georgia Tech
4 University of Georgia
5 University of Washington
Subsequently, the magazine contacted the University's Office of Public Affairs, which corrected the data.
"We regret the error and apologize to SmartMoney and to the other institutions in the ranking," Jackson said in a Dec. 23 news release.
In the adjusted rankings, Texas A&M took the lead followed by the University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Tech and then the University in fourth place.
SmartMoney ranks the "Best Colleges for Making Money" by aggregating the median salaries graduates made three and 15 years following graduation. The magazine computes the rankings by dividing the salaries by the cost of a degree from each graduate's university during the years they attended.
Fifty schools made the list, and public schools faired better than private institutions.
Although private school graduates earned higher salaries than public school graduates overall, the difference in degree costs left private school graduates with more debt than public school graduates.
"We're such a bargain," University President Michael Adams said in reference to the University's ranking in the SmartMoney article.
The office originally sent SmartMoney tuition data that did not reflect the University's transfer from a quarterly system to a semester system in 1998.
"Those figures should have been tripled instead of doubled," said Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs, in a phone interview Wednesday.
Efforts to reach a representative of SmartMoney Magazine were unsuccessful as of Wednesday.
As a result of the incorrect data, the payback ratio for University graduates was mistakenly high.
In an online update to the original article, SmartMoney states the error was discovered following an "inquiry from another school."
SmartMoney Magazine's Top Five
1 Texas A&M2 University of Texas, Austin
3 Georgia Tech
4 University of Georgia
5 University of Washington
Subsequently, the magazine contacted the University's Office of Public Affairs, which corrected the data.
"We regret the error and apologize to SmartMoney and to the other institutions in the ranking," Jackson said in a Dec. 23 news release.
In the adjusted rankings, Texas A&M took the lead followed by the University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Tech and then the University in fourth place.
SmartMoney ranks the "Best Colleges for Making Money" by aggregating the median salaries graduates made three and 15 years following graduation. The magazine computes the rankings by dividing the salaries by the cost of a degree from each graduate's university during the years they attended.
Fifty schools made the list, and public schools faired better than private institutions.
Although private school graduates earned higher salaries than public school graduates overall, the difference in degree costs left private school graduates with more debt than public school graduates.
"We're such a bargain," University President Michael Adams said in reference to the University's ranking in the SmartMoney article.
Be the first to comment on this story