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PROVO — There's more to determining the value of a college education than how much students pay for tuition and textbooks.
That's what SmartAsset is trying to convey to students across the country. The New York-based financial consulting group says the overall value of attending college includes both cost to students and what they get in return.
In both measures, there's good reason for Utah students to be encouraged, especially at Brigham Young University.
BYU topped Utah's ranks as the "best value college" in a recent report by SmartAsset, with the University of Utah and Utah State University ranking second and third, respectively. SmartAsset based the ranking on tuition, student living costs, average scholarships and grants awarded, student retention rates, and average starting salary after graduation.
BYU came in 27th in the national ranking of best value colleges.
In terms of affordable college tuition, three of the study's top 10 schools nationally are in Utah. BYU was also first on that list — out of nearly 5,700 institutions — with Weber State University ranking fifth and Utah Valley University ranking seventh.
For Josh Whicker, the cost of attending BYU was mostly what drew his attention away from "pretty comparable" universities closer to his home in Montana.
"The biggest reason is probably the price," Whicker said. "I wanted a school that had a good communication disorders program, and BYU has a pretty decent one. That was another small contributor to why I chose BYU. Really, it was just the price."
Utah's state colleges and universities boast tuition rates lower than many of their peer institutions, even with next year's tuition hike of 3 percent. But tuition often overshadows other metrics that contribute to the true and overall cost of attending college, according to AJ Smith, managing editor of SmartAsset.
"I think one of the things that can be surprising to people is we see in our top 10 list that some of the colleges have a very low, affordable tuition, and some have a higher tuition, and they're not ranked by that," Smith said. Educational value "is not completely correlated to the cost of the college."
Smith said she hopes the ranking will give students a better idea of what to expect in terms of costs and benefits at each institution.
"I hope that they feel a little more empowered, that they feel that they're getting a truer look at what the cost of college is," she said.
Cathy Anderson, associate vice president of budget and planning and senior vice president of academic affairs at the University of Utah, said it's important for students to realize where they fall when looking at averages for institutions, such as what their actual cost of living and financial aid awards are.
"I think if we look overall, there are many different types of institutions, and it's important for students to understand what those different institutions have to offer and where the best fit is for the cost," Anderson said.
On average nationally, scholarships and grants fall short by $6,500 in covering a tuition rate of $16,190, according to the report. The average starting salary for college graduates is about $43,200.
In contrast, BYU's average scholarships and grants to students exceed tuition by more than $1,700. The university's retention rate — the percentage of students who re-enroll from year to year — is 85 percent, and the average starting salary for BYU graduates is $50,000, the report states.
BYU spokesman Todd Hollingshead said the university trains its academic advisors to inform students about the opportunities each degree presents after graduation.
"I think every college and every department does a great job at providing resources to students to help them not only (develop) their academic plan for their time at the university, but also having a good expectation of what could come next," Hollingshead said.
At the University of Utah, average scholarships and grants fall short of the tuition rate of $7,139 by about $930. But the university's retention rate of 88 percent is the highest for any university in Utah and 26 percent above the state average. Starting salaries for graduates average $46,300, the report states.
High retention rates often indicate that students value the education they're getting at the institution they attend, despite other limiting factors, according to Smith.
Retention at the U. has increased by almost 5 percent in the past six years, according to Michael Martineau, interim director of institutional analysis.
"It's a tremendous path that we've been on, but there's still a lot of work to be done," Martineau said.
But there are other metrics not included in the report that educators say reflect institutional quality. At the U., for example, 40 percent of bachelor's degree recipients go on to enroll in graduate school, according to Martineau.
"That's tremendous evidence of the effort and commitment that our faculty, our administration puts into helping students accomplish their own objectives and goals in the long run," he said.
Several Utah universities this year have also participated in a campaign to help more students apply for financial aid. Currently, only 34 percent of eligible applicants in the state fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the application for Pell grants and other funds, according to a report released Wednesday by the Utah System of Higher Education.
One component common to students at all institutions is a social experience. As students tend to perform better when they are more involved on campus, Hollingshead said, BYU focuses on providing a good experience for students, especially freshmen.
"I think that all contributes to a high retention rate," Hollingshead said. "When people have a positive experience and they feel like they are learning the things they want to learn, then they're going to continue."
Such has been the case for Whicker, now in his junior year.
"I feel a lot more motivated when I have people around me that are working toward the same goals or equal goals," Whicker said. "I feel like it's helped me to stay motivated and positive through the whole experience."
