Washington Monthly recognized Linfield University, formerly known as Linfield College, as the No. 1 liberal arts college in Oregon for earnings and first-generation student performance in its 2020 College Guide and Rankings.
The earnings performance metric measures how colleges prepare students for decently paying jobs. The magazine compared the actual median earnings of former students 10 years after initial enrollment to predicted earnings. Linfield’s earning metric placed it as the seventh-best liberal arts college in the nation and the top in Oregon.
Affirming its commitment to a diverse student body, Linfield enrolls more than 20% first-generation students each year. Graduation rates among students who are the first in their families to attend college earned Linfield the No. 1 ranking for liberal arts college in Oregon and 53rd in the nation.
Overall, Linfield was named among the Top 100 Liberal Arts Colleges in the nation based on social mobility, research and promoting public service.
Linfield’s top indicator – social mobility – is a combination of scores that analyze graduation rate over eight years, percent of Pell grant recipients, number of Pell grant recipients earning bachelor’s degrees and net price. Because of these factors, Linfield was also named to the magazine’s 2020 Best Bang for Your Buck in the West list, recognizing institutions that help non-wealthy students attain marketable degrees at affordable prices.
Washington Monthly’s rankings are the latest in a series that Linfield has received. Others recently announced include:
- Best College in Oregon for Getting a Job in 2020 by Zippia
- No. 1 Private College Athletics Program in Oregon 2021 by Niche
- Among the 2021 Best Colleges in the West by Princeton Review
