Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--For the second time in a year, Mississippi State is ranked among top U.S. public universities for return on investment, making the BestValueSchools.com Southern U.S. Region listing at No. 11.
Mississippi State is the only state school making the list.
BestValueSchools.com is the most recent source identifying MSU as a sound financial return on a college education with an in-state, 30-year net ROI of $602,000 and an out-of-state, 30-year net ROI of $565,700.
The BestValueSchools.com article said, "This school is not only highly ranked among public schools, but has been specifically recognized for its high level engineering and veterinary medicine programs. The school has been recognized as one of the nation's best buys by Forbes Magazine and Kiplinger."
Last spring, an annual analysis by the Wall Street Journal on college costs gave a 7.8 percent ROI for Mississippi State, compared with 6.7 percent for the next highest university in the state.
The WSJ also listed MSU graduates as obtaining the state's highest average starting salaries--at $41,200--and the state's highest average mid-career salaries--$72,700.
Additionally, MSU students have the lowest median debt upon graduation among the state's four research universities and the overall lowest loan default rate, according to the WSJ.
The BestValueSchools.com list also placed the following on the southern U.S. institutions list: Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, Clemson University, Louisiana State University, University of Florida, University of Arkansas, University of Alabama, West Virginia University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Tennessee and University of Kentucky.
For more information on Mississippi State University, visit www.msstate.edu.