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Updated: January 17, 2020

Study finds Trinity College among best liberal-arts schools for ROI

Photo | Contributed Hartford's Trinity College.
By Sean Teehan

Among U.S. liberal-arts colleges, Hartford’s Trinity College offers students one of the best returns on investment, according to a recent study.

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked Trinity No. 10 among U.S. liberal-arts colleges in terms of the amount of money graduates earn in the decade and beyond after leaving school compared with the net cost of earning a bachelor’s degree there.

“Trinity is a classic liberal-arts and sciences outfit,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center. “What we found is that these colleges provide a mix of learning that has a decent value immediately, but the value improves over time.”

CEW found the median return on investment for liberal-arts colleges within 10 years is $62,000, which is $45,000 less than the return for all colleges. But by 40 years after enrollment, the return for liberal-arts grads is about $918,000, which is about $200,000 higher than all colleges.

“As with many four-year institutions, financial returns from liberal arts colleges start low, but enrolling at one of these colleges is a good investment in the long term,” Carnevale said. 

Trinity was the only Connecticut liberal-arts school to break the top 20 in CEW’s study. The college, which enrolled just under 2,200 students last year, has been adding programs and partnerships in recent years, in part to assert relevance in the face of declining enrollment at liberal-arts schools, and some public skepticism has been raised about the value of skills they teach.

Last month Trinity announced it will offer a graduate certificate in urban planning beginning next fall. 

The school is currently running a program dubbed the Trinity-Infosys Applied Learning Initiative. As part of the program, Trinity faculty and tech giant Infosys jointly provide training to new Infosys employees who are starting out as entry-level business analysts. The program will incorporate elements of the liberal arts along with tech training.

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