Data Show Which Top-Ranked Colleges Operate Most Efficiently
Ohio's Miami University--Oxford took top honors as the most efficient school among National Universities and Michigan's Hope College was most efficient among National Liberal Arts Colleges in an exclusive U.S. News analysis that compared spending and educational quality.
For this analysis, U.S. News looked at the public and private colleges that scored the highest on overall undergraduate academic educational quality, as measured by their position in the 2015 Best Colleges rankings, but that spent relatively less on their educational programs to achieve that quality.
Amid restricted growth in many state budgets to fund higher education and increased public scrutiny about the rising cost of going to college, it's vitally important for many colleges to efficiently spend their limited resources to produce the highest possible educational quality.
U.S. News measures financial resources by taking into account how much a school spends per student on instruction, research, student services and related educational expenditures. The financial resources indicator has a 10 percent weight in the Best Colleges ranking methodology.
The lists below are based on operating efficiency, which U.S. News has defined as a school's 2013 fiscal year financial resources per student divided by its overall score -- the basis U.S. News uses to determine its overall numerical rank -- in the 2015 Best Colleges rankings.
This calculation reveals how much each school is spending to achieve one point in its overall score and thus its position in the rankings. The premise of the analysis is that the less a school spent relative to its position in the overall rankings, the more efficient it was in its ability to produce a top-quality education.
Schools that are featured on these lists are doing a good job in managing their financial resources relative to other schools that may have far greater financial resources because of more state funding, higher tuition or larger endowments. In the National Universities category, many of the schools listed are likely to be more affordable in terms of tuition than others in the same category, since most of them are public universities.
Only schools that were numerically ranked in the top half of their ranking category in the 2015 Best Colleges rankings were included in this analysis.
The tables below show the schools in each of the 10 U.S. News ranking categories that scored the highest on operating efficiency. Note: A school's overall rank is partly based on a two-year average of expenditures per student; the financial resources figures displayed below reflect only the most recent year.
National Universities
School (state) | U.S. News National Universities rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
76 | 50 | 205 | $383.66 | |
95 | 47 | 214 | $392.77 | |
88 | 48 | 198 | $423.02 | |
88 | 48 | 185 | $437.23 | |
33 | 67 | 110 | $441.82 | |
62 | 56 | 156 | $457.29 | |
76 | 50 | 156 | $469 | |
Clemson University (SC) | 62 | 56 | 138 | $486.02 |
99 | 46 | 171 | $499.61 | |
Clark University (MA) | 76 | 50 | 145 | $502.24 |
76 | 50 | 145 | $505.80 | |
62 | 56 | 117 | $512.04 | |
129 | 39 | 192 | $523.67 | |
113 | 43 | 171 | $529.51 | |
68 | 55 | 103 | $534.65 | |
106 | 44 | 156 | $537.02 | |
70 | 53 | 103 | $537.32 | |
Duquesne University (PA) | 116 | 42 | 171 | $543.31 |
DePaul University (IL) | 121 | 41 | 177 | $544.78 |
129 | 39 | 192 | $545.13 | |
76 | 50 | 110 | $548.04 | |
Syracuse University (NY) | 58 | 57 | 95 | $556.18 |
31 | 69 | 71 | $565.14 | |
71 | 52 | 117 | $565.67 | |
76 | 50 | 117 | $567.72 |
National Liberal Arts Colleges
School (state) | U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hope College (MI) | 99 | 54 | 179 | $396.15 |
89 | 56 | 163 | $426.18 | |
Augustana College (IL) | 105 | 53 | 171 | $429.92 |
Luther College (IA) | 89 | 56 | 154 | $432.25 |
64 | 62 | 116 | $446.81 | |
Rhodes College (TN) | 54 | 67 | 97 | $449.24 |
Kalamazoo College (MI) | 64 | 62 | 95 | $451.02 |
Knox College (IL) | 81 | 58 | 122 | $457.19 |
Cornell College (IA) | 105 | 53 | 158 | $458.51 |
St. Olaf College (MN) | 54 | 67 | 97 | $459.78 |
Regional Universities (South)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Universities (South) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 78 | 80 | $162.96 | |
6 | 84 | 63 | $173.94 | |
60 | 42 | 125 | $200.98 | |
16 | 70 | 70 | $206.30 | |
Belmont University (TN) | 5 | 85 | 34 | $206.78 |
Regional Universities (North)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Universities (North) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
14 | 69 | 145 | $235.57 | |
Towson University (MD) | 60 | 49 | 176 | $249.92 |
Salisbury University (MD) | 65 | 48 | 178 | $252.27 |
65 | 48 | 171 | $286.02 | |
3 | 80 | 43 | $296.03 |
Regional Universities (West)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Universities (West) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | 73 | 55 | $222.36 | |
21 | 57 | 85 | $229.07 | |
33 | 48 | 110 | $236.88 | |
31 | 49 | 94 | $237.04 | |
Gonzaga University (WA) | 3 | 89 | 20 | $245.34 |
Regional Universities (Midwest)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Universities (Midwest) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 77 | 106 | $162.78 | |
31 | 59 | 113 | $202.86 | |
33 | 58 | 103 | $224.52 | |
26 | 62 | 86 | $233.48 | |
48 | 49 | 122 | $236.61 |
Regional Colleges (South)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Colleges (South) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | 69 | 74 | $152.28 | |
Flagler College (FL) | 8 | 88 | 48 | $166.42 |
Bryan College (TN) | 22 | 71 | 67 | $169.89 |
Anderson University (SC) | 21 | 72 | 71 | $172.83 |
Asbury University (KY) | 1 | 100 | 27 | $175.84 |
Regional Colleges (North)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Colleges (North) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Messiah College (PA) | 5 | 68 | 13 | $353.18 |
6 | 63 | 15 | $371.24 | |
Geneva College (PA) | 14 | 48 | 33 | $383.63 |
Merrimack College (MA) | 9 | 54 | 20 | $387.70 |
12 | 50 | 30 | $387.76 |
Regional Colleges (West)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Colleges (West) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | 84 | 16 | $190.24 | |
8 | 75 | 19 | $198.21 | |
6 | 81 | 7 | $229.53 | |
2 | 95 | 4 | $233.43 | |
Northwest University (WA) | 16 | 63 | 16 | $250.16 |
Regional Colleges (Midwest)
School (state) | U.S. News Regional Colleges (Midwest) rank | Overall score | Financial resources rank | Spending per student for each point in the U.S. News overall score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Benedictine College (KS) | 20 | 67 | 66 | $208.85 |
Morningside College (IA) | 23 | 63 | 56 | $223.19 |
Dordt College (IA) | 5 | 80 | 30 | $228.84 |
Taylor University (IN) | 1 | 100 | 5 | $240.64 |
Clarke University (IA) | 17 | 71 | 41 | $250.15 |
