Westmont Makes 'Grateful Grads' Ranking

Forbes Magazine has ranked Westmont in the top 100 colleges and universities of its new survey, Grateful Grads: Top Return-on-Investment. Westmont, which is listed as No. 74, is one of only three Christian colleges nationally and just one of nine schools in California, including Cal Tech, Stanford, Claremont McKenna, Mills, Pomona, USC, California Institute of the Arts and Occidental.

The Obama administration has launched the College Affordability and Transparency Center College Scorecard website to help families choose the right college. “The problem with the White House’s new offering is that it gives you little guidance about the return-on-investment part of the college planning process,” says Matt Schifrin, Forbes’ managing editor of investing, markets and personal finance. “The government’s scorecard website has yet to report any specific employment data by college.”

The Forbes’ ranking measures the amount of private gifts given to a four-year college, divided by its number of full-time students. “After all, private donations are typically an indicator of two things: how successful an alumnus is and how grateful he or she feels toward her alma mater,” Schifrin says. Westmont’s median gift per student from 2002-2012 is $7,944.19, while endowment assets per student from 2011-2012 is $47,008

“Westmont students have succeeded in almost every field, including business, science and technology, education and art,” says Silvio Vazquez, Westmont dean of admission. “They've gained admission to the nation’s top law and medical schools as well as graduate programs. By providing an education that integrates faith and knowledge, we prepare students not only for rewarding careers, but also for rewarding lives of service.”