Molloy named best value

Molloy College has much to celebrate as it was named to Money Magazine’s “Best Colleges” list again, making it the highest ranked comprehensive Long Island school.

“It’s the second year in a row we’ve been named a best value school,” said Molloy spokesperson Ken Young. “And that’s great and that’s what we’ve always prided ourselves on.”

The list, which started last year, ranks schools across the country by the return on a student’s investment — a degree that pays for itself and then some. According to Money Magazine, the average Molloy student earns $55,000 a year within 5 years of graduation.

Molloy shared its spot with Rutgers University in New Jersey, the University of Richmond in Virginia, and Stonehill College in Massachusetts.

However, Molloy did slip from No. 72 on last year’s list to No. 105 this year. This is due to a change in the way rankings were calculated. More weight was put on college graduation rates and early career earnings. Also last year entirely relied on the self-reported salaries from PayScale.com, while this year included a Brookings Institution study of the 25 most-cited skills that alumni had in their LinkedIn profiles.

“These rankings always shift up and down,” said Young. “And two years in a row is the important thing… We’re thrilled to get second year honors.”

Other local schools had even more drastic drops. Webb Institute in Glen Cove was No. 2, last year and No. 85 this year. Stony Brook University was No. 107 last year and No. 268 this year.

Molloy was also No. 20 on Money Magazine’s list of “The 50 Colleges That Add the Most Value,” which means that a school helps students do better than expected based on their economic and academic backgrounds. Molloy received an “A” grade in this category.

For the second year in a row, Molloy also made the list of “The 50 Best Colleges That You Can Actually Get Into,” coming in at No. 18. (Molloy was No. 7 last year.) The schools on this list accept at least 66 percent of applicants — Molloy accepted 73 percent.