WSJ Ranking Places BYU-Idaho Above Major Colleges in Idaho and Utah

In the Wall Street Journal's list of 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S., BYU-Idaho claimed the top spot in Idaho, third in comparison to colleges in Utah, and 32 in the nation for best value.

These rankings from the Wall Street Journal are exciting, but what really matters is what they signify: student success.

Average Student Outcomes

BYU-Idaho frequently ranks #1 in value and cost. We rank among the best value in first-year ROI for universities that receive financial aid. We also rank high in value for universities by College Consensus and among the best colleges in Idaho.

What does BYU-Idaho being best in value mean? It means for a great deal less than other schools, graduates achieve the same great incomes. Students can get their dream jobs with a BYU-Idaho education-and with less debt.

• 95% of job-seeking BYU-Idaho graduates are employed within a year of graduation.
• 90% of students applying to graduate school are accepted within a year of graduating.
• And 65% of graduates have zero debt at graduation, so they can start earning right away.

With a 97% acceptance rate and a free application, these benefits are accessible to almost everyone who applies.

The Impact of Low Costs

These numbers are significant, but what they really signify are the stories of the students and alumni whose lives have been changed through their education at BYU-Idaho.

One such story is Jed Rawson, a BYU-Idaho alum and CEO of pirawna, an e-commerce optimization platform that gained clients $482 million in revenue in 2023.

"The value of not having a mountain of debt hanging over your head-like I would have had if I attended a different university-makes BYU-Idaho an unparalleled bang for the buck," said Rawson.

"You get a fantastic education ... and the value of being able to quickly pay off your student loans and keep your costs low, set me up to be able to buy a house sooner ... and be in a better situation economically and financially.

"I'm probably the only person you'll meet with two sets of twin girls. I have two 6-year-olds and two 9-year-olds. We were able to afford IVF-and start a family-because I paid off my student loans faster because I didn't have as much debt as my friends that went to a state school."

Ranking Methodology

The Wall Street Journal's rankings are decided primarily by average student outcomes, which include salary impact, years to pay off net price, and graduation rate impact.

Salary impact measures how much a college boosts its graduates' salaries beyond what they would be statistically expected to earn.

Years to pay off net price combines the average full cost of attending the college and the value added to graduates' median salary by attending the college.

Graduation rate impact measures the amount of students who graduate from the college compared to the amount that would be statistically expected.

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