College Factual Names Oregon State University Among the Top 5 Best Colleges for Your Money in Oregon

TROY, NY (07/24/2013)(readMedia)-- Oregon State University has been ranked No. # 1 among the top five best colleges for your money statewide by College Factual (www.collegefactual.com), a new site that uses customizable outcomes-based tools and rankings systems to guide students through the college selection process.

Oregon State University's rank reflects the institution's academic quality and economic value, based on the cost of obtaining an undergraduate degree. A number of outcomes-based factors were used to determine this ranking, such as average student loan debt per student, loan default rates, how well the institution retains and graduates students, and graduates' starting salaries and earning potential.

"College rankings lists are a dime a dozen and often rely on data that provides limited value-we publish rankings to get students and parents thinking about key factors they need to consider when choosing a college," says Bill Phelan, CEO of College Factual. "How long will it take you to graduate? How much debt will you incur? How much money will you make? We highlight important factors such as these in our rankings to help build personalized lists, which is the ultimate goal in any college selection process."

With a focus on compiling sought-after data and innovative tools such as its customizable College Combat feature-which allows students to compare institutions side-by-side on a variety of factors-College Factual puts the college rankings process in the hands of students and parents and not those of the institutions or national publications.

College Factual's ranking system is based on a series of algorithms that include information from the Department of Education, nationally mandated data reporting for institutions and Payscale. You can find all of Oregon State University's rankings here: http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/oregon-state-university/rankings/badges/.

For more information about College Factual's best colleges for your money rankings, visit www.collegefactual.com or contact media@collegefactual.com.