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McPherson College Recognized by Money Magazine

MONEY Magazine Best Colleges 2017-2018McPherson College has been ranked among the “Best Colleges for Your Money” by Money Magazine. The college was the top-ranked small college in Kansas on the 2017 list and recognized by Money Magazine for its initiative that “helps liberal arts majors learn entrepreneurial skills that will help them post-graduation.”

Money Magazine evaluated nearly 2,500 colleges to come up with its list of 711 colleges that were ranked based on three categories:

  • Quality of education, which included factors such as graduation rates, and instructor quality;
  • Affordability, which included factors such as net prices, average student debt, loan repayment, and affordability for low-income students; and
  • Outcomes, which included factors such as graduate earnings, and job meaning that evaluates whether a student’s work makes a difference in the world.

“This is great news for the college and for our community to be recognized nationally,” President Michael Schneider said. “The ranking also supports one of the areas we will focus on this year as part of our strategic plan to help students reduce college debt.”

McPherson College recently implemented a new strategic plan called Community by Design. It is a new approach to planning that puts the entire campus community at the heart of the process taking aim at some of higher education’s largest challenges. One of the initiatives the plan will take on in 2017 is a debt-reduction pilot project to guarantee students leave McPherson College with half the national average of debt. The pilot project will focus on employment, mentorship, and financial planning to help students reduce the amount of college debt at graduation.

According to Money Magazine, “College is now the second-largest financial expenditure for many families, exceeded only by the purchase of a home. So it isn’t surprising that parents and students are taking a hard look at the costs and payoffs of any college they consider.”

“Our Community by Design plan has given us momentum to ensure our continued place as one of America’s great small colleges,” President Schneider said. “This ranking and other recent recognitions validate the work being done by our faculty and staff to ensure a quality education and excellent student experience.”

McPherson College was recognized again this year by the Chronicle of Higher Education on its “2017 Great Colleges to For.” It’s the second year in a row the college has been included on the list’s honor roll, an elite group of colleges that are outstanding within their enrollment size, and the third year overall that the college has been named to the list. Additionally, the college was one of only five institutions that earned top honors in 11 or more of the report’s 12 categories.