College Bound: Low Debt, High Earnings

University of Wyoming Offers Top-Quality Education and Bridge to a Bright Future

For the Telegram
Posted 7/14/17

A person with a four-year college degree will earn an average of $1,460 per month more than a person with a high school diploma, according to research published last year.

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College Bound: Low Debt, High Earnings

University of Wyoming Offers Top-Quality Education and Bridge to a Bright Future

Posted

A person with a four-year college degree will earn an average of $1,460 per month more than a person with a high school diploma, according to research published last year.
For graduates of the University of Wyoming, that benefit is amplified when compared with other universities. That’s because UW’s in-state tuition is the lowest among all U.S. universities, which means more than half of UW graduates enter the workforce with no student debt. Additionally, the average starting salary for UW graduates is $46,100 -- significantly higher than the national average of $33,400, and higher than the $41,055 average of UW’s peer institutions.
“While these numbers are just averages -- the actual difference in the value of a college education depends upon what field your degree is in -- there is no question that investing in a university education will pay dividends for a lifetime,” says UW Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing Chad Baldwin. “In Wyoming, we’re especially fortunate because our elected officials have made sure to keep college so affordable and accessible.”
For Wyoming high school graduates looking for top-quality higher education, UW offers much more than affordability. Combining the quality of a major national university with the personal contact of a smaller college, UW is increasingly being recognized as a higher education gem in the Rocky Mountains. Whether you plan to enroll in a university straight out of high school or first attend a community college, UW offers a wide array of academic programs, vibrant student life and undergraduate opportunities you won’t find at most larger institutions.
For more about opportunities at UW, including cost of attendance, to online to www.uwyo.edu/uw/aboutuw/index.html.


Satisfied Students
Current UW students attest to UW as an appealing destination for college students and their families. Results from the latest UW student satisfaction survey show that 95 percent of students are pleased with their UW education. Compared with other schools across the country, UW students express higher-than-average satisfaction with the university’s overall college experience, variety of course offerings, facilities and personal safety. Among the findings:
• Seventy-seven percent of UW students are satisfied with their college experience, significantly higher than the national average of U.S. public universities, with just 10 percent dissatisfied.
• The percentage of students who believe the campus is safe and secure is 81 percent, with only 6 percent dissatisfied.
• Seventy-eight percent of students say they would enroll at UW again “if they had to do it over again,” a percentage also significantly greater than the national average.
• Asked if they experienced intellectual growth at UW, 82 percent of students answer yes, with just 4 percent expressing dissatisfaction.
• Regarding UW’s commitment to academic excellence, 73 percent of students indicate satisfaction, with 6 percent
dissatisfied.

• Eight of 10 students are satisfied with faculty knowledge in their fields of expertise, as well as the content of courses within their majors.
• Eighty-six percent of students are satisfied with class sizes, with just 3 percent
dissatisfied.


World-Class Teachers and Researchers
Many UW’s faculty members are renowned in their fields, and the university’s student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1 means that students have greater access to those professors than at the vast majority of other major universities. In fact, many UW undergraduates are involved in research projects at might only be available to graduate students at other universities. Starting as early as their freshman year, students can participate in significant research experiences.
For example, the Wyoming Research Scholars Program (WRSP), part of UW’s Science Initiative, pairs undergraduate students with faculty mentors in specific research projects. Research Scholars are selected based in part on their high school academic records and letters of recommendation.
Darbi Schlenker, a freshman from Meeteetse, was selected as part of the 2016-17 WRSP class. A chemistry major, Schlenker says she chose to attend UW over an Ivy
League school.
“This program offers me opportunities in the lab and in science that no other school could match,” she says. “I was accepted to Brown University, and turning down the Ivy League offer was tough but, ultimately, the research opportunities I received from UW were too beneficial for me to pass up. The chance to get in a lab and start doing research my freshman year is amazing, especially because I have a say in what type of research I will
be doing.”
For more about the WRSP, go online to www.uwyo.edu/wrsp/.


Community College Connections

UW welcomes community college transfer students and is taking steps to make the transfer process seamless and painless.
The university has struck dozens of program-level articulation agreements with Central Wyoming College and Wyoming’s other community colleges, meaning that students from the very start know exactly what classes to take at the community colleges to meet UW degree requirements.
In addition, UW has launched new scholarships for transfer students coming from Wyoming and other Western states. For more details, go online to www.uwyo.edu/scholarships.
Facilities and Student Life
With hundreds of millions of dollars from the state of Wyoming and private donors, UW has built new facilities and upgraded existing structures over the last decade at a level unprecedented in the university’s history.
Among the new and improved facilities are the Half Acre Recreation and Wellness Center, the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility, the Visual Arts Building, the Buchanan Center for Performing Arts, Coe Library, the Energy Innovation Center and the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. Under construction now are two new buildings: the Engineering Education and Research Building and the High Bay Research Facility.
These improvements have created some of the best facilities for students of any university in the Rocky Mountains, providing a superb environment for instruction, study, research and relaxation.


Distance Education
For those who aren’t able to relocate to UW’s campus in Laramie, the university offers other educational opportunities.
UW’s branch campus in Casper offers a variety of courses and degree programs to meet the academic needs of students in central Wyoming.
And UW Outreach Credit Programs delivers university learning opportunities to students across the nation via distance technologies. Those include bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as several certificate options.
For more about UW’s distance education programs, go online to www.uwyo.edu/outreach/.