For the second straight year, Forbes Magazine has ranked Westmont in the top 100 colleges and universities in its survey, “The 100 Top ROI Colleges 2014: The Grateful Grads Index.” Westmont, No. 81, is one of three Christian colleges in the list and just one of eight schools in California, including Claremont McKenna, Stanford, California Institute of Technology, Pomona, Mills, USC and Occidental.
In the ranking’s second year, Forbes tweaked the formula to focus more on the rate of alumni giving. Its goal is to measure the value of a college degree by listing the median amount of private donations per student over a 10-year period. “The idea is that the best colleges are the ones that produce successful people who make enough money during their careers to be charitable and feel compelled to give back to the schools that contributed to their success,” says Matt Schifrin, Forbes managing editor of investing, markets and personal finance.