Richard Bland College ROI Ranks High
For Immediate Release: August 29, 2024
Contact: Jesse Vaughan, Chief Communications & Marketing Officer/jvaughan@rbc.edu
The most recent college and university return on investment (ROI) rankings reported by the Georgetown University Center on Education & The Workforce (CEW) affirm Richard Bland College of William & Mary (RBC) provides students and families a competitive return on their investment in higher education. Using data from the U.S. Department of Education “College Scorecard,” CEW ranked the ROI of more than 4,500 colleges and universities across the nation.
One of the metrics used to measure a college’s ROI is Net Present Value (NPV), which calculates how money in the future is valued today. This measurement includes costs, future earnings and the length of time it would take to invest and earn a specific amount of money in a fixed period.
RBC’s 40-year NPV—which according to the report is the most comprehensive benchmark metric—is $878,000, which ranks fourth among U.S. public, two-year colleges designated as Predominantly Black Institutions. Black students comprise 55 percent of RBC’s student demographic.
“Richard Bland College has a richly diverse student population, which contributes to its unique value proposition,” said RBC President Debbie L. Sydow. “CEW’s rankings help to highlight that value proposition in a way that standard databases often fail to measure.”
RBC’s 40-year NPV also ranked fourth among those public, two-year colleges in the Southeast offering a transfer curriculum to traditional-aged students. RBC is the only Carnegie-designated (system for identifying the common attributes of two-year and four-year colleges) “high-transfer, high-traditional” two-year college in Virginia.
Still, RBC’s 40-year NPV ranked favorably in comparison to Virginia’s community colleges and even many four-year, public and private non-profit colleges in the Commonwealth.
“Richard Bland College’s ranking in the Georgetown University report affirms the long-term value and return on investment we provide our students,” RBC Chief Enrollment Management Officer Justin May said. “We’re proud to offer an education that facilitates transfer to four-year institutions, prepares students for the workforce and supports their financial success well into the future.”
RBC’s value proposition extends beyond the classroom. Last year, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC) in partnership with the University of Virginia Weldon-Cooper Center, reported RBC contributed $43 million in GDP, as well as $3 million in tax revenue to the Commonwealth’s economy.
RBC’s outsized economic impact for a college that received roughly $14 million in state funding in FY 2023 was credited largely to the influx of RBC graduates continuing their education at four-year universities or entering the workforce.
Click here to read the full Georgetown University CEW report.
