This Missouri university gives students the best value in the state, study says

Of the 10 "best value" colleges in Missouri, the University of Missouri System has four of them — with one at the top, according to a national survey by a financial technology company.

SmartAsset names the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla as the college that offers students and parents the best value for their dollars.

The company considered tuition, living costs, scholarship and grant offerings, retention rate and graduates' starting salary in ranking the private and public schools. Each area was weighted, with the most given to salary, tuition and living costs. The value system is based on comparing the true cost of attending a school with what students get in return.

Missouri S&T's topped the list because its annual tuition and living costs, according to SmartAsset, totals $21,698, with the average starting salary for graduates at $65,200. It was followed by Washington University in St. Louis, where annual tuition and living cost totaled $67,751 and the average starting salary is $60,100. The University of Missouri in Columbia ranked third with annual tuition and living cost totaling $24,183 and the average starting salary at $49,100.

The other seven schools were Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Truman State University, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis University, William Jewell College, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Northwest Missouri State University.

In Kansas, Kansas State University topped the list with an annual tuition and living cost totaling $22,642 and the average starting salary of $50,000. The University of Kansas came in second with an annual college cost of $24,117 and a starting salary of $49,500.

None of the schools on either the Missouri or Kansas list, however, made the national top 10 list (Missouri S&T was ranked 17th nationally). The best value school in the country, SmartAsset says, is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where annual tuition and living costs total $63,250 and the average starting salary for graduates is $81,500.

College and university leaders have said that over the years, tuition has crept up as state support for higher education shrank.

By law, Missouri public colleges can't raise tuition above inflation in any one year, and for several years, some of the state's schools have held tuition flat. This year, state schools, in a deal with legislative budget leaders, agreed to cap tuition increases at 1 percent.

The College Board reported this year that across the country, from the 2007-08 to 2017-18 academic years, in-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions increased annually at an average rate of 3.2 percent above inflation.

That report also showed that among four-year flagship institutions, MU showed up among those with the lowest percentage increases in tuition in the last five years.

The Missouri Legislature has worked with public institutions to keep higher-education core funding levels the same as last year.

"It takes an entire team of individuals and organizations to make higher education successful throughout the state," said Christian Basi, spokesman for the UM System. "We are very thankful to the state legislators who have worked to keep our funding stable going into the upcoming fiscal year. Additionally, our campus and system leaders have taken a serious look at the costs students bear when they commit to coming to the University of Missouri."

Basi said the system has listened to parents, students and faculty to determine how it can reduce the cost burden without compromising educational quality.

"We've reduced costs on textbooks throughout the system, and each campus has been working on additional affordability measures, such as scholarships and lowering costs on dining, that reduce the overall cost of attending college," Basi said.

This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 11:50 AM with the headline "This Missouri university gives students the best value in the state, study says."