San Jose State was named the most transformative college in the U.S. for 2020-21 on Aug. 25 by Money magazine, a personal finance brand and website formerly owned by Time Inc.
“While likely not surprising to the countless students whose lives and families have been improved and changed forever by the academic and personal journey they have undertaken at San José State, this tremendous honor brings pride to every member of Spartan Nation,” SJSU President Mary Papazian said in an Aug. 25 SJSU Newsroom post.
According to Money magazine, SJSU is one of the most affordable higher education institutions in the U.S.
“The current cost of tuition for undergraduates at SJSU is $7,852. The total cost of tuition and room and board is $25,212,” said Vincent Del Casino Jr., SJSU provost and senior vice president of academic affairs in a Sept. 9 email to the Spartan Daily.
Del Casino Jr. said in the email that roughly 62% of SJSU students receive financial aid in the forms of grants, scholarships, work-study and loans, which leaves the estimated price of attending at $15,200.
Although more than half of SJSU students receive endowments towards tuition, the average student debt is about $15,000 compared to $27,000 for other public four-year colleges, Del Casino Jr. said.
SJSU alumni say they support Money magazine's ranking and that it aligns with their own experiences at SJSU.
“The affordability is what made me choose SJSU in 2006,” alumnus Gilberto Hernandez said.
He said he credits the grants and scholarships he received for helping him graduate from SJSU with a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering with around $4,000 in student debt.
Alumnus Ausaf Ahmad graduated from SJSU with a master’s degree in computer engineering in Spring 2020 and said he was able to quickly pay off his student debt.
“I was pretty clear that if I'm in this area attending SJSU, I might be able to have some work opportunities and that's exactly how it turned out,” Ahmad said.
He also said SJSU helped him land three internships, which led to a variety of job offers that helped pay off his student debt.
Del Casino Jr. said PayScale, a data company that helps employees understand the job market, stated on their website in 2019 that SJSU was ranked 92nd nationally out of 1,566 campuses in early career compensation within 5 years of experience.
According to PayScale, early career compensation is the fitted pay for employees midway through the first five years of their careers, during which they are learning basic skills and collecting paychecks.
Del Casino Jr. said SJSU has enhanced multiple services over these past two years, including hiring 129 new tenure-track faculty members and 22 new advisors.
According to Academic Positions’ website, which helps people find jobs in academia, tenure track is a professor’s pathway to promotion in their career.
Del Casino Jr. said some other resources SJSU implemented include eliminating no-credit remedial courses, pushing students to take 15 credits and investing in higher-impact practice, such as internship placement for students to help them translate skills into the workplace.
In 2018, Money magazine ranked SJSU the fourth most transformative college.
Del Casino Jr. said for SJSU to remain as the most transformative school, it needs to continue to provide the best services toward students graduating in a timely manner.
“Our goal is to continue to create an accessible environment that moderates overall cost while delivering a high-quality degree,” Del Casino Jr. said. “We do this by recruiting outstanding students, hiring committee faculty and staff and creating programs that allow students to complete their degrees on time.”
Papazian said she is honored for SJSU to be recognized in its efforts to be helping such a diverse campus achieve higher education.
“As the nation continues to become more and more diverse, we know that education remains key to the American Dream and the social mobility of our residents,” Papazian said.
