There’s good news if you attend a private school, according to a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

There’s even better news if you attend Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict.

“Ranking 4,500 Colleges by ROI (2022)” attempts to answer an age-old question: Is college worth it? The answer is “Yes,” particularly when viewing private four-year nonprofit colleges like SJU and CSB, according to the study.

Using new data from the College Scorecard, the report ranked 4,500 colleges and universities by return on investment. Private colleges that primarily offer bachelor’s degrees lead the list of institutions that provide the highest returns on investment 40 years after enrollment, just as they have in earlier versions of the College Scorecard.

Using a methodology that includes the cost of education and earnings across a graduate’s lifetime, Saint John’s is ranked first among 23 private four-year colleges in Minnesota in five separate benchmarks – at 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 years after enrollment. That last category shows SJU graduates with a return on investment, measured in current dollars, of $1,442,000, 40 years after enrollment.

Additionally, SJU ranked first among all Minnesota schools (public and private) at 20, 30 and 40 years after enrollment.

Saint Ben’s is ranked 12th at 10 years, 11th at 15 years, ninth at 20 years, eighth at 30 years and seventh at 40 years among state private four-year colleges. The latter category shows CSB graduates with a return on investment of $1,161,000.

What is particularly notable is that CSB and SJU continue to rise in the rankings throughout graduates’ working lives. National figures show SJU ranked No. 173 among all classifications of schools and CSB No. 568 out of 4,500 schools for ROI 40 years after enrollment (four-year and two-year public and private colleges that are nonprofit and for-profit).