Connor Mallory and Samantha Fong walk past the Schulz Information Center on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park, California, on Monday, March 19, 2012. (BETH SCHLANKER/ The Press Democrat)

Sonoma State earns place on list of highest-return schools

JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sonoma State University is 45th on a new list of 62 California colleges ranked by greatest lifetime return on investment.

The analysis by AffordableCollegesOnline.org, or AC Online, looked at 767 colleges to arrive at its rankings.

SSU was found to have a return on investment of $546,000 on annual tuition of $5,472. That return is a person's lifetime earnings as a result of earning a college degree minus the cost of getting the degree.

The tuition doesn't include housing costs.

AC Online, which collects information about college costs and financial aid, used data from the Carnegie Foundation, the National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data Systems and PayScale, an online salary information firm.

A Payscale report that looked at 1,511 public and private colleges said SSU had a 30-year net return on investment of 6.6 percent.

For more information go to www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/california.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor