After graduating from college, the weight of student loan payments often remind students how much their education is worth. For UB students, this financial stress may be lighter than normal as UB ranks in the top 25 lowest student debt loads.
Families are focusing more than ever on choosing a school based on not only quality, but also affordability. The average UB student borrows $15,911 in student loans by graduation. While this is no small number, according to U.S. News & World Report, UB places among the top 25 colleges with lowest student debt in the country.
"UB does a superb job of providing an exceptionally high quality education which, at the same time, is one of the most affordable," said A. Scott Weber, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education in an e-mail. "This is a double bonus for our students."
Around the nation, universities with undergraduate students high in debt have shown figures of post-graduation loans ranging from $33,000 to $49,000.
An established research university with a student population as large as UB might not seem like it belongs on the ratings list, but UB welcomes the recognition.
"Through New York State tax support of higher education, reasonably priced student tuition and fees, a strong UB commitment to scholarships, philanthropy, research support, and our student's own hard work, UB is able to provide this high quality educational experience to our students at an exceptional value," Weber said.
Students, as well as universities, are equally concerned with post-college prospects in the current economy. Providing students with an upper echelon research and education facility while keeping graduation debt at a minimum is a difficult task that only a handful of schools have accomplished.
"Of course this is attractive because it provides greater options for students to pursue after graduation in terms of where they may wish to locate, the types of employment they may seek and/or the ability to immediately pursue graduate/professional education," Weber said.
The only other school in New York State to make the list was Binghamton University.
"I was kind of surprised that [UB made the top 25] because [the school provides] a pretty good education for the price and when you think of how many colleges there are in the whole country, it shows how we're up there with the best of them," said Matthew Sbarra, a junior communication major.
In a similar ranking of schools in the north titled "Great Schools, Great Prices," several other local colleges earned top spots, including Rochester Institute of Technology at No. 2 and Canisius College at No. 10. Schools worthy of distinction were able to balance their quality-to-price ratio, percentage of students receiving need-based aid and percentage of overall costs taken care of by that need-based aid.
"UB takes great pride in representing New York State as a location for an exceptionally affordable high quality undergraduate educational experience," Weber said.
A comparative list of public universities across the country has UB at No. 58. Overall the SUNY system is well represented with spots in the top 50 going to Binghamton, Stony Brook and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
"This just goes to show that the phrase ‘you get what you pay for' isn't always true because the price is great for the quality of education," said Yasin Odabas, a junior business major.
Rankings for best national universities, both public and private, have UB at No. 120, one spot higher than last year. UB was ranked in the same class as other universities including the University of Arizona and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. The top three spots were held by Harvard, Princeton and Yale, respectively.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
