What are the best colleges and universities in New Hampshire if you reward schools for making the best use of their limited resources? Academic Stewardship asks how effectively schools manage their financial and human resources to gain the influence that makes them academically excellent. Schools that are exemplary in Academic Stewardship are doing everything in their power to help students and faculty achieve their full potential.
Colleges and universities in New Hampshire deserve to be recognized when they do more with less. It’s impressive when a large wealthy school can spend money lavishly on expensive buildings and programs. But it’s even more impressive when a small school with limited means is able to train and inspire students that the larger wealthier schools tend to ignore.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities reported in late 2021 that almost 75 percent of higher-education professionals at US colleges and universities felt financial constraints prevented their schools from effectively attracting students. Distracted by the size and amenities of larger schools, prospective students tended especially to be overawed by the big research universities.
New Hampshire’s smaller colleges, especially its liberal arts colleges, need effective ways of communicating their value to a world that celebrates “bigger is better” and “you need the best.” Unfortunately, most college ranking companies, such as U.S. News & World Report, define “best” in a way that devalues schools with smaller budgets and fewer students even when these schools do remarkable work in advancing their students’ education. By and large, college rankings penalize schools that serve underserved populations.
Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell, who for years now has criticized conventional college rankings for misrepresenting what’s good and valuable in education, we decided to construct a new ranking metric that highlights those schools that do more with less. That metric—called the Academic Stewardship metric—takes away both the size and the wealth advantage of schools, and focuses instead on how well schools use the resources available to them to advance the education of their students.
As a metric, Academic Stewardship is defined by a precise mathematical formula, which can be found in our Academic Stewardship white paper. Measuring the Academic Stewardship of New Hampshire’s colleges requires measuring two forms of stewardship: 1) Stewardship of financial resources (using the money they have responsibility without waste) and 2) Stewardship of human resources (doing their best to help students, faculty, and administration to flourish). Together, these two types of stewardship form what we call Academic Stewardship. If you want to learn more about the factors involved in Academic Stewardship, click the more button below.
Academic Stewardship as so defined is connected to keeping tuition and other costs down, but it should not be confused with affordability or frugality. The schools that this metric ranks as exemplary academic stewards tend to be all over the map when it comes to tuition and other costs. At issue is the influence of schools given the financial and human resources they have on hand. If a school is going to charge more for tuition, then that needs to be reflected in the school having proportionately greater influence.
The benefits of attending a school with strong academic stewardship include:
Tuition + fees
$44K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
84%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1220/26
Saint Anselm College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
60%
Student body
4K
Keene State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$61K
Acceptance
9%
Graduation
95%
Student body
7K
Median SAT/ACT
1500/33
Dartmouth College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
76%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/25
University of New Hampshire’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
37%
Student body
84K
Southern New Hampshire University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$25K
Acceptance
90%
Graduation
76%
Student body
<1K
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
15%
Student body
1K
Granite State College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
58%
Student body
4K
Plymouth State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
58%
Student body
<1K
University of New Hampshire at Manchester’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
76%
Graduation
56%
Student body
2K
Rivier University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
96%
Graduation
21%
Student body
4K
New England College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$42K
Acceptance
85%
Graduation
51%
Student body
2K
Franklin Pierce University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
91%
Graduation
65%
Student body
<1K
Colby–Sawyer College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
New Hampshire is also home to 21 public and private higher learning institutions, including the Ivy League school Dartmouth. Dartmouth has a 97% graduation rate, a student population of about 6,000, and a tuition rate of $55,000. Students can major in fields like English, creative writing, engineering, physics, and neuroscience. Dinesh D’Souza, Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers
), and Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss
) are all noteworthy alumni of this school. The largest public institution, the University of New Hampshire, has its main campus in Durham.
Find college admissions consultants in your state.
With a student body of almost 16,000, and a tuition rate of $18,000, UNH offers degrees in areas such as economics, biology, and social work. Those looking to earn an associate degree in fields such as early childhood education, cybersecurity networking, or aviation technology can choose from five community colleges that have tuition rates of $8,000. New Hampshire also offers three religiously affiliated colleges, ranging from $22,000 to $41,000 in tuition. Southern New Hampshire University is one of the fastest-growing universities in the United States. With its open enrollment policy, over 138,000 students attend classes both online and in person.
If maple sundaes and cider donuts sound appetizing to you, New Hampshire may be a great destination for your higher education. Take the Mount Washington Cog Railway for a scenic ride up to the 6,288-foot summit, or check out Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, the state’s first settlement.
Whether you’re looking to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, New Hampshire has a variety of institutions to choose from. Check out the program that best fits you.