Colby Community College ranked 11th out of 565 community colleges nationwide in the Best Community Colleges of 2016 study by SmartAsset, a financial advising company.

To determine the best community college investments, SmartAsset used four metrics: the student-faculty ratio, the graduation and transfer rate, the cost of in-state tuition and fees, and the ratio of graduates’ median starting salaries to the full cost of attendance.

“The metrics used in this ranking are areas CCC holds vitally important,” said college president Seth Carter.

CCC has about fourteen students for every faculty member, better than the national average of 20 to one. Colby’s 57 percent graduation and transfer rate, which measures students who graduate from a community college or transfer to a four-year institution, is well above the national average of 40 percent.

CCC graduates also do well with the salary to cost-of-attendance ratio. The latest Kansas Training Information Program (K-TIP) report found that graduates of CCC technical programs made an average of $36,159, about $3,000 more than the next closest institution and about $8,000 more than the state average.

“It is an honor to be ranked this highly. The recognition is a direct reflection of the quality of staff, faculty, and students at Colby Community College,” Carter added.

Full information on the SmartAsset study is available at https://smartasset.com/student-loans/best-community-colleges-2016