Top 5 Reasons It Pays to Go to Iona College
Iona College stands out as a top-tier institution geared toward career advancement and preparation for its students
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (February 2022) – It’s only natural that students and families would closely examine a college’s return on investment when making the big decision of whether to attend. More and more, that decision is landing them at Iona College.
Widely known as a leader in preparing students to thrive in the workforce, this Catholic, liberal arts college just outside of New York City has seen enrollment spike over 30 percent in the past two years, driven in large part by the proven value of an Iona education.
“This is an exciting time to be a Gael,” said Kevin O'Sullivan, senior vice president for Enrollment and Student Affairs. “Iona College is doing more now than ever to empower our students to become leaders in their chosen career paths. If you’re looking for distinguished programs and the tools you need to succeed while exploring your passions— Iona is the place for you.”
Among Iona’s most notable new developments is the launch of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, offering students unparalleled access to clinical placements and full-time career opportunities with New York’s #1 hospital, according to U.S. News and World Report’s Best Hospitals rankings. This exciting new collaboration offers students a unique opportunity to learn from top professionals in state-of-the-art facilities.
Similarly, the new Gaels Go Further Mentoring Program taps into Iona’s network of over 50,000 alumni across the globe to provide students with career advice as well as guidance on how to maximize their college career and so much more. With alumni rising to the top of global business – Alfred F. Kelly Jr. ’80, ’81MBA, CEO of Visa, and Margaret (Maggie) Timoney ’89, ’92MBA, CEO of Heineken USA – there are no limits to what you can achieve with an Iona degree.
Prominent value rankings for Iona College include:
1. Payscale.com’s “College Salary Report”
No matter how you look at it, college is an investment — both of time and money. And some schools are simply doing a better job of setting their alumni up for success in the job market than others. With a typical median salary of $111,600 for mid-career alumni with a bachelor’s degree, meaning at least 10 years of experience, Iona ranked in the top 14 percent according to the 2021 Payscale report.
2. Money.com’s “Most Transformative Colleges”
Coming in at #19 nationally, Iona made Money.com’s latest ranking of “Most Transformative Colleges” based on its value-added scores for graduation rates, earnings, and student loan repayment.
In the newest “A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges,” released by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) in 2022, Iona is ranked in the top four percent (#205) among 4,500 institutions based on its long-term return on investment (ROI). In addition, Iona ranks #1 among colleges with main campuses based in Westchester for delivering the highest ROI both 40 and 30 years after graduation, the time frames that best reflect a college’s value, according to the report.
4. The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings
The elite Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education 2022 College Rankings highlighted only the top 800 colleges across the country – including Iona. Based on 15 performance indicators, this list was designed to answer the questions that matter most to students and their families: How likely am I to graduate, pay off my loans and get a good job? Does the college have plenty of resources to teach me properly? Will I be engaged and stretched in the classroom and get good access to my teachers? Is there a diverse campus community?
College Factual analyzed over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual listing and ranked them in a variety of ways, including highest paid graduates, most diverse, best overall quality, and more. Iona was awarded an impressive 91 badges in the 2022 rankings. Among other recognitions, Iona earned 100 highest paid major rankings and made the ranks for Best Colleges Nationwide, Best Colleges in New York and much more.
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2024 national list of “The Best 389 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.