Value, brought together.
One overall score, five transparent elements, and every school judged by the same published formula.
See how the Degreeli Value Score adds up.
A 40-second narrated walkthrough using Princeton’s public-data score.
Read the calculation
Affordability and debt reward lower values; earnings rewards higher values. These three elements use percentiles within Degreeli’s directory. For ties, percentile = 100 × midpoint of zero-based sorted positions ÷ (number of reported values − 1). Affordability and debt use 100 minus that percentile. Graduation success = reported completion rate × 100.
Princeton’s unrounded elements are approximately 95.243619 (affordability), 99.142367 (earnings), 97.61 (graduation) and 95.995289 (debt). Their mean is 96.997819, rounded once to 97.0/100. Without approved reviews, that is provisional. Approved reviews add a fifth element: average overall rating × 20. The complete score averages all five elements equally. All four public-data measures are required; missing data is never zero.
Full scoring methodologyThe number that brings it together.
Five elements, each scored out of 100. The official five-element Degreeli Value Score is their arithmetic mean: affordability + earnings outcomes + graduation success + debt burden + user reviews, divided by 5.
Lower annual net price earns a higher percentile score.
20% of a complete scoreHigher median earnings 10 years after entry earns a higher percentile score.
20% of a complete scoreThe reported completion rate, expressed out of 100.
20% of a complete scoreLower median federal graduate debt earns a higher percentile score.
20% of a complete scoreMean overall rating from approved community reviews × 20.
20% of a complete scoreWhat the score doesn’t capture
- Historical data. Earnings, debt, and graduation figures describe past students. Each measure uses its own cohort years, listed on the methodology page.
- Who is counted. Institution earnings cover federally aided students, including completers and noncompleters, working and not enrolled ten years after entry. Net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid. Debt covers federal student loans, not private or parent loans.
- How the elements are scaled. Affordability, earnings, and debt are percentiles within Degreeli’s imported school directory; lower price and debt yield higher scores. Graduation success is the reported completion rate multiplied by 100. The four are not on identical scales.
- Special cases. Some schools, such as federal service academies, carry service commitments or admission conditions that a cost-and-outcome score does not reflect.
- Your family’s situation. The score summarizes historical school-level measures. It is not a personal aid offer, a program-level score, or a prediction for any one student.
How the calculation works
Affordability, earnings, and debt use the full imported school directory as a fixed reference. We sort each available, nonnegative reported value. A tied value uses the midpoint of its zero-based positions: percentile = 100 × midpoint ÷ (number of values − 1). Earnings uses this percentile; affordability and debt use 100 minus the percentile. Completion is the reported graduation rate × 100. User reviews use the mean approved overall rating (1–5) × 20. No pending or private review affects a public score.
We average unrounded element scores, then round the result to one decimal. All four public-data elements are required. Without approved reviews, we display their average as a provisional four-element score; we do not invent a fifth value. Schools missing a public-data measure remain visible as “Not scored” and are excluded from the overall Top 25. Provisional and complete scores are labeled and can be filtered separately. Peer percentiles describe this directory, not a universal quality standard.
Editor’s Choice: Best Value
Our current selection rule requires a complete five-element score of at least 80, a reported graduation rate of at least 70%, and at least five approved user reviews. Eligible schools receive “Editor’s Choice · Best Value.” This is a published, criteria-based Degreeli designation, not a claim that an editor visited a campus. Schools with provisional scores can be best-value contenders, but cannot receive this award. Payment and sponsorship do not affect the calculation or designation.
Institution-level scores use historical federal cohorts. A school score is not a score for an individual program, a personal aid quote, or a guarantee of future earnings. Use the program comparison and your aid offer to investigate further. Sources, cohorts, and limitations