College Alumni Donations

College Alumni Donations September 14 Theres a Forbes ranking that came out recently entitled Top 50 ROI Colleges: 2015 Grateful Grads Index that we figured wed share with our readers. Whenever we analyze a college ranking, we always like to examine how the publication came up with this ranking (as in, we want to know the nooks and crannies of their algorithm). In this case, we think its a bit of a stretch how Forbes tabulated which colleges in America are the best returns on investments. For this ranking, Forbes decided that colleges with the best ROI are the ones whose alumni give back to the college the most, through charitable donations. Were not so sure about that, but, nonetheless, it is interesting to see which colleges do well and which dont with alumni donations since this speaks to how much its alumni love their school. Alumni of Princeton, Dartmouth, and Williams love their colleges. Its why they tend to give back to their alma maters in droves, as a Forbes ranking indicates. Topping the ranking is Princeton University. At Princeton, the median 10-year donation is $29,330 (thats median, not mean!) and 46% of Princeton alumni give back. Coming in second is Dartmouth College, with a median 10-year donation of $27,464 and an alumni giving percentage of 43%. Placing third is Williams College, with the median 10-year figure at $22,891 and the giving percentage at a record 52%. Bowdoin College places fourth, with a ten-year mark of $22,121 and a giving percentage of 45%. Rounding out the top five is Amherst College, with a median figure of $20,866 and a giving percentage of 48%. Claremont McKenna College, Davidson College, Wellesley College, Haverford College, and the University of Notre Dame round out the top ten. So there are lots of small liberal arts colleges finishing in the top ten. It seems that students who attend small liberal arts colleges  quite often love their alma maters. Its something weve been saying for years and the data backs us up. While youre here, read about the ROI of the Ivy League. Oh and if you happen to be on our website tomorrow and it goes down, its because our newly designed site is going live. We apologize in advance for any technical glitches.