Rhodes College has earned the 16th spot in the South on Washington Monthly’s regional list of “2026 Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars.” Rhodes also ranked third in the category for service out of the 219 colleges on the list.
Founded in 1969, Washington Monthly is an independent media organization based in Washington, D.C. The magazine evaluates both public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. based on their contributions to society, focusing on four broad categories: access, affordability (including net price and student debt), student outcomes (graduation rates and earnings), and the promotion of public service.
In an article discussing the rankings, Washington Monthly’s editors stated:
Instead of rewarding colleges for their exclusivity, prestige, and wealth, our 2026 Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars ranking measures how much they help ordinary middle- and working-class students get ahead in life, and whether they encourage those students to participate in their democracy. To do well on our ranking, colleges must recruit students of modest means without overcharging them on tuition or loading them with too much debt, then help them graduate with degrees that bring in decent incomes. Schools get extra points if they motivate students to vote, serve in the military or AmeriCorps, and enter socially useful professions like nursing and teaching.
In addition to this recognition, Rhodes College recently received accolades from Forbes, LinkedIn, Money, Niche, and The Princeton Review.