Catholic University Ranked As #64 Best Value School by US News

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside politics, I think CUA would probably seem like a good value to donut hoe families who don't qualify for financial aid and want to stay reasonably close to the DMV. My understanding is that cua gives scholarships and grants to the vast majority of its students, which means a donut hole families that would not qualify for financial aid at other "best value schools” still pay tuition that is not much more than UMD instate.
Clearly it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it could be an alternative for some local tuition sensitive kids who don’t get into UMD or want a smaller school. Loyola in Baltimore is another alternative.

Just go to GMU...it's ranked much higher overall and in particular in a number of specific programs...and it start at $20k cheaper OOS tuition and $35k cheaper for in state.

I worked at the university. The students that attend Catholic typically don't get accepted into the other DC universities. They often say that they want to be in DC and that's why they attend.

They don't get into DC colleges - GU, GWU, American, but they sure should have shot at GMU.

[Anonymous]

What is a donut hole family?

A donut hole family is a family that makes too much to qualify for need based financial aid, but doesn't make enough to pay $60K+ in tuition. They typically seek out in state tuition and/or merit scholarships.

[Anonymous]

GMU has 27,000 undergraduates. CUA has 3,000 undergraduates and Loyola has 5,000 undergraduates. Some students don't want to go to a huge school.

[Anonymous]

Np. What’s GMU? I’m not from dc. Never heard of that school before

[Anonymous]

George Mason University

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GMU has 27,000 undergraduates. CUA has 3,000 undergraduates and Loyola has 5,000 undergraduates. Some students don't want to go to a huge school.

Got it…but the PP was purely focused on cost and being near the DMV.

GMU has D1 sports, so that’s another benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents - please do your research on Catholic University prior to committing. Much of the student programming, advising offices, cultural engagement offices have been cut as of yesterday. Multiple Departments have 2-3 faculty members. They have lost a lot of the competent faculty members who do not agree with the direction. In addition, they just fired multiple staff members yesterday leaving most of the offices skeletal. The university is welcoming to right wing, white Catholics and supporters of Trump but terrible for those who may not agree.

Note sent by the president yesterday
By Peter Kilpatrick ● May 19, 2025

Dear Members of the University Community,

Last October, I wrote to you about the growing deficits our University has faced due to declining enrollment revenue and rising costs, and the steps we needed to take to align our operational expenses with our revenue. At that time, I shared that we needed to make difficult, deep cuts in our operating budget and identify areas for revenue growth to ensure the long-term financial strength of the University.

Our approach to adjusting our annual operating budget by $30 million—approximately 10%—has included multiple strategic components:

Reduce operational budgets across administrative and academic units, which included reducing our planned salary increase pool from 4% to 2.5% and reducing our maximum retirement contribution from 10% to 7.5%;

Launch several revenue-enhancing initiatives, including a new bachelor and master of science in artificial intelligence, an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing, a master in business administration, a new online master in data analytics, and a master of evangelization and culture, in partnership with Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire Institute;

Offer voluntary separation packages to qualified faculty; and

Select a number of position eliminations based on business and operational needs of the University to minimize the negative impact on University service levels to students.

Conclusion

Today, with a heavy heart, I must inform you that we have implemented the concluding phase of our comprehensive financial resiliency plan, which unfortunately involves the elimination of 66 active staff positions across various departments, accounting for 7% of our workforce.

Those directly affected were notified today, and I want to acknowledge the tremendous contributions these valued colleagues have made to our University community. Each person affected has helped shape our institution and contributed to our mission in meaningful ways. They will remain on paid leave for one month, during which time they will not be responsible for any work and will continue to receive full benefits.

Is their online AI going to be taught by adjunct?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents - please do your research on Catholic University prior to committing. Much of the student programming, advising offices, cultural engagement offices have been cut as of yesterday. Multiple Departments have 2-3 faculty members. They have lost a lot of the competent faculty members who do not agree with the direction. In addition, they just fired multiple staff members yesterday leaving most of the offices skeletal. The university is welcoming to right wing, white Catholics and supporters of Trump but terrible for those who may not agree.

Note sent by the president yesterday
By Peter Kilpatrick ● May 19, 2025

Dear Members of the University Community,

Last October, I wrote to you about the growing deficits our University has faced due to declining enrollment revenue and rising costs, and the steps we needed to take to align our operational expenses with our revenue. At that time, I shared that we needed to make difficult, deep cuts in our operating budget and identify areas for revenue growth to ensure the long-term financial strength of the University.

Our approach to adjusting our annual operating budget by $30 million—approximately 10%—has included multiple strategic components:

Reduce operational budgets across administrative and academic units, which included reducing our planned salary increase pool from 4% to 2.5% and reducing our maximum retirement contribution from 10% to 7.5%;

Launch several revenue-enhancing initiatives, including a new bachelor and master of science in artificial intelligence, an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing, a master in business administration, a new online master in data analytics, and a master of evangelization and culture, in partnership with Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire Institute;

Offer voluntary separation packages to qualified faculty; and

Select a number of position eliminations based on business and operational needs of the University to minimize the negative impact on University service levels to students.

Conclusion

Today, with a heavy heart, I must inform you that we have implemented the concluding phase of our comprehensive financial resiliency plan, which unfortunately involves the elimination of 66 active staff positions across various departments, accounting for 7% of our workforce.

Those directly affected were notified today, and I want to acknowledge the tremendous contributions these valued colleagues have made to our University community. Each person affected has helped shape our institution and contributed to our mission in meaningful ways. They will remain on paid leave for one month, during which time they will not be responsible for any work and will continue to receive full benefits.

Is their online AI going to be taught by adjunct?

Online masters for data analytics not for bachelor's and masters in AI

[Anonymous]

My son is a CUA architecture freshman, honors student and on the swim and dive team. He’s enjoying CUA very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a CUA architecture freshman, honors student and on the swim and dive team. He’s enjoying CUA very much.

Random update to very old thread? What made you search for this thread? Your immense happiness with the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic University doesn't get a lot of love on this site, so I was suprised to learn that US News ranked it #64 in the National Universities Best Value category. Apparently CUA offers a better value than GW (ranked #93) and American (ranked #114). It seems like local students with limited budgets for college tuition should give it a look.

Don't you have to take some religion classes? Nope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic University doesn't get a lot of love on this site, so I was suprised to learn that US News ranked it #64 in the National Universities Best Value category. Apparently CUA offers a better value than GW (ranked #93) and American (ranked #114). It seems like local students with limited budgets for college tuition should give it a look.

Don't you have to take some religion classes? Nope

Well, then cross every Catholic university off your list. They all require at least some sort of religion class.

If you’re that anti-religion, though, Catholic universities are definitely not a good fit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No offense...but it's weird to wonder why a school ranked #64 for anything gets much mention.

I mean, it's not top 10, 20 or even 50 for value. It's #64.

+1. I don’t think 64 is worth posting about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside politics, I think CUA would probably seem like a good value to donut hoe families who don't qualify for financial aid and want to stay reasonably close to the DMV. My understanding is that cua gives scholarships and grants to the vast majority of its students, which means a donut hole families that would not qualify for financial aid at other "best value schools” still pay tuition that is not much more than UMD instate.
Clearly it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it could be an alternative for some local tuition sensitive kids who don’t get into UMD or want a smaller school. Loyola in Baltimore is another alternative.

Just go to GMU...it's ranked much higher overall and in particular in a number of specific programs...and it start at $20k cheaper OOS tuition and $35k cheaper for in state.

I worked at the university. The students that attend Catholic typically don't get accepted into the other DC universities. They often say that they want to be in DC and that's why they attend.

They don't get into DC colleges - GU, GWU, American, but they sure should have shot at GMU.

Or UDC.

[Anonymous]

CUA is a good school that gives a lot of merit money. It is not as competitive as some other DC schools but it opens doors for your average student and what's so bad about that? Ignore the haters on here, not every kid will get into / be able to pay for the top schools and there are no bad outcomes out of CUA.

As an alum, I can testify that these kids DO get into other more competitive schools but may choose CUA for a variety of reasons both economic and social. One of my own roommates was a sophomore transfer from American. She wanted to go to bars and parties and wasn't happy with the heavily international / clubbing nightlife at American. What's the problem? Why can't ppl just be happy there is something for everyone?