This year, for the first time, FIT made it onto the prestigious Forbes “America’s Top Colleges” list. The publication ranked FIT No. 180 among all colleges and universities in the country—and the 8th best public college in New York State. FIT ranked first in its competitive set.
To create the list, Forbes used a complex methodology, drawing on numerous data points. They considered the following:
- Alumni salary, using data from Payscale and the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard;
- the amount of debt students take on and the percentage of alumni who begin repaying their loans within five years of graduation;
- the percentage of students who graduate within six years;
- the number of alumni who have become “American Leaders” according to Forbes—for example, those who made the Forbes 30 under 30 list and those who have won major prizes, awards, and fellowships;
- return on investment (ROI), based on a measure created by the think tank Third Way; and
- student retention rate, based on data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS);
- Academic success, based on the number of students who have won major collegiate scholarships and alumni who have gone on to earn PhDs.
FIT excelled in its 88% retention rate and 50% admissions yield rate (the percentage of admitted students who choose to matriculate). Students carry low debt loads, and average alumni salaries are high.