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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Operations Research (Income $0-$30k)

5 Ranked Colleges
471 Degrees Awarded
$10,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor's For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 1,760 people earned their degree in operations research, making the major the 198th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, operations research graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $79,967 and had an average of $28,139 in loans still to pay off.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 471 operations research graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in operations research. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great operations research programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the operations research program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for bachelor’s degree operations research students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Operations Research (Income $0-$30k)

#1

Princeton University

Princeton, New Jersey

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Princeton University landed the #1 spot on the list. Princeton University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Princeton, New Jersey. It awarded 69 bachelors’s operations research degrees in 2019-2020.

Princeton did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Operations Research Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for Princeton University is $1,386 for Bachelor’s Degree Operations Research students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low student loan default rate of 0.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Princeton Operations Research Report

#2

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Cornell University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Cornell is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 89 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Cornell also took the #4 spot in our “Best Operations Research Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Cornell University is $7,484 for bachelor’s degree operations research students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read full report on Operations Research at Cornell

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Berkeley, California, and it awarded 58 bachelors’s operations research degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also made our “Best Operations Research Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $8,392 for bachelor’s degree operations research students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of California - Berkeley.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Operations Research at UC Berkeley

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #4 spot on the list. Columbia University in the City of New York is a private not-for-profit institution located in New York, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 77 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Columbia also made our “Best Operations Research Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Columbia University in the City of New York is $8,916 for bachelor’s degree operations research students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full Columbia University in the City of New York Operations Research Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Methodist University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Operations Research Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Dallas, Texas is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s operations research degrees to 37 students in 2019-2020.

SMU also made our “Best Operations Research Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #5. It costs about $26,718 for Bachelor’s Degree Operations Research students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend SMU.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Operations Research at SMU

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Notes and References

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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