Long-Term Investment

Dominican University of California ranks among the top 7 percent of 4,500 public, private, and for-profit colleges in the United States in a new report that calculates a degree’s long-term return on investment.

Indeed, bachelor’s degrees from private, nonprofit colleges such as Dominican have the highest returns on investment 40 years after enrollment when compared with public and for-profit institutions, a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds.

Over the course of 40 years, the average graduate of a private college has an ROI of $838,000, compared to $765,000 for a graduate of a public college. Dominican’s 40-year ROI is $1,096,000, placing it at number 327 - the top 7 percent - of institutions nationwide.

To measure ROI, the study uses net present value (NPV) which estimates how future earnings are valued in the present. The measure, calculated using data from the College Scorecard, weighs the cost of paying for college against what students could potentially earn down the line.

The report notes that four-year degrees from private, nonprofit universities tend to pay off as the years add up. This trend is particularly noticeable at Dominican.

According to the study, even though students, on average, take out more than twice as much in loans to attend private colleges, a degree from a private nonprofit college is worth more in the long term.