On average, Kettering University graduates see a 20-year return on investment of $766,000, according to new data released by PayScale.com.

PayScale’s 2018 ‘College ROI Report: Best Value Colleges’ ranks Kettering 24th in the country in Return on Investment and first in Michigan and first in the Midwest. Kettering University has been No. 1 in the Midwest in PayScale’s ROI rankings for the past six consecutive years.

“Our strong performance in PayScale’s ROI rankings year after year reflects the real outcomes of Kettering’s unique approach to experiential cooperative education that pairs hands-on academics with deep, integrated professional practice. We offer an unparalleled way to prepare students for successful careers,” said Dr. Robert K. McMahan, Kettering University President. “Our graduates are leaders and innovators who create transformational, world-changing technologies in a wide range of industries.” 

Kettering University has a unique and proven approach to experiential education. All undergraduate students alternate between terms on campus that include hands-on classroom and lab experiences and co-op terms in which they are employed in paid professional positions with one of approximately 600 industry partners or work full-time on intensive research alongside faculty.

Kettering’s facilities include the only autonomous vehicle proving ground on a college campus in the country, a crash safety center and high-tech lab and research equipment that undergraduate students get access to from the moment they arrive on campus. Kettering faculty have received more Major Research Instrumentation grants from the National Science Foundation than any university in Michigan since 2012 and are among the leaders in the United States in being awarded these grants, which have dramatically enhanced the University’s research capabilities.

Kettering University’s applied education model has resulted in graduates who are in demand. More than 98 percent of Kettering graduates are employed or accepted to graduate school within six months of graduation.

The dynamic environment at Kettering leads to graduates who are successful and also creative. A study profiled in The Economist in 2018 ranked Kettering fourth in the nation inventors produced per graduate.

Historically, Kettering has provided greater access to a prestigious education for students of economically diverse backgrounds. A 2018 study in The New York Times listed Kettering as No. 1 in social mobility among highly selective private universities nationwide. 

Data shared by CNBC in September of 2017 ranked Kettering first in Michigan among colleges and universities for producing the highest earning graduates. The Wall Street Journal ranked Kettering first in the country in career preparation. Additionally, Kettering University’s engineering program ranked 14th in the country in the 2018 U.S. News and World Report ‘Best Colleges’ edition. Kettering was designated a ‘Best in the Midwest’ university by the Princeton Review in its 2018 Best Colleges edition, the Washington Monthly ranked Kettering fifth in the Midwest in its ‘Best Bang for the Buck’ college rankings and Forbes designated Kettering as one of America’s Top Colleges in 2017. College Factual recognized Kettering's Mechanical Engineering program as the best in the country in 2018.