NEWS

Louisiana Tech ranks No. 8 on list of nation’s most underrated colleges

Jan 29, 2015 | General News

Business Insider, the Internet’s largest business news and information website, has ranked Louisiana Tech University No. 8 in its list of the “50 Most Underrated Colleges in America,” released Wednesday.
Fall Commencement 11/15/2014, Saturday, 11/15/2014, Ruston, LA, photo by Donny J Crowe, Copyright:Louisiana Tech University.All Rights Reserved.(dcrowe@latech.edu) 318-257-4854Louisiana Tech was the only higher education institution in the state to make the list. The 50 Most Underrated Colleges in America rankings primarily used information from U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 Best Colleges list and the latest data from PayScale.com’s College Salary Report rankings of both average early career and mid-career salaries.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology ranked No. 1 followed by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Florida Institute of Technology, University of Houston and Missouri University of Science & Technology. Other prominent research universities on the list included Texas Tech University (No. 27), University of Arizona (No. 33), Auburn University (No. 41), and Virginia Tech (No. 50).
“Louisiana Tech’s brand continues to grow nationally as does its reputation for preparing students and graduates to be valuable contributors and leaders in their fields,” said Louisiana Tech President Les Guice. “Our entire campus community shares a commitment to providing students with an unparalleled educational experience and I am pleased to see their efforts being recognized on a national level.
“Together, we will continue to advance Louisiana Tech University on a foundation of serving the best interests of our students, our constituents and our state.”
In the two primary criteria for evaluating and ranking the most underrated colleges, Louisiana Tech had a U.S. News & World Report Tier One National University ranking of No. 201. Tech was one of only two public universities in the State of Louisiana to earn a Tier One ranking and also ranked in the Top 40 in the nation for graduating students with the least amount of debt. Louisiana Tech also earned a spot on U.S. News & World Report’s list of the Top 120 Public Universities in the nation.
PayScale.com’s College Salary Report ranked Louisiana Tech No. 1 in the state in both average early career and mid-career salaries for graduates. Early career graduates from Louisiana Tech earn an average of $49,200 annually with graduates earning average mid-career salaries of $86,500. PayScale.com also ranked Louisiana Tech No. 59 in the nation in median mid-career earnings among graduates from public institutions and No. 95 in the nation in median earnings for graduates from research universities.
In addition to Louisiana Tech’s ranking in their “50 Most Underrated Colleges in America” list, Business Insider ranked Tech No. 5 in the nation on its list of “The 10 Best Colleges for Math Whizzes” released in October 2013. Louisiana Tech was the only university in Louisiana on that list as well and was also the highest ranked institution in the southern United States.