Molloy University named one of the top 100 schools in the U.S. by Time magazine

Molloy University is among the top 100 colleges in the nation, according to Time magazine’s new America’s Best Colleges list.

The Rockville Centre school ranked 85th on the list, released last week. Among New York schools, Columbia University ranked eighth, Cornell University placed 13th and New York University was named 88th best in the nation.

Stony Brook University ranked 134th; St. Joseph’s University, New York, in Brooklyn and Patchogue came in 142nd; Adelphi University in Garden City placed 250th; Farmingdale State College was named 289th; and SUNY Old Westbury placed 489th.

The recognition for Molloy comes as top college rankings increasingly consider “return on investment,” or ROI, factors such as students’ earnings after they graduate and how those incomes compare with the cost of attending, as well as graduation rates.

The Time list relied heavily on such factors, which accounted for 75% of a school's score. Time also considered measures such as student-to-faculty ratio, expenditures on students, diversity of students and faculty, selectivity and the share of admitted students who choose to attend.

Molloy’s president, James P. Lentini, said he was not surprised to see the Catholic university rank among New York’s best schools.

“It’s no accident,” he said of the school’s placement on the Time list and other recent rankings that emphasize career outcomes. Earlier this year, Money magazine gave Molloy four out of five stars in its Best Colleges list, and a year ago, The Wall Street Journal ranked Molloy 75th on its list of the nation’s best colleges.

Molloy’s programs in nursing and other healthcare fields, as well as its business and education schools, are among those preparing students for strong careers after graduation, Lentini said. “Our majors across the board are finding the next step in their careers, whether it's employment or they're going on to grad school,” he said.

Lentini also cited the university's tuition as a factor that helped in the ranking. This year, annual tuition is about $41,600. By comparison, New York University's annual tuition is approximately $70,000.

Last year, Molloy’s undergraduate enrollment was about 3,400, and it had about 1,600 graduate students.

Taylor Montgomery, 20, a senior majoring in economics at Molloy, said the school has focused on preparing students for the workforce with internships, on-campus jobs and career training opportunities.

“At Molloy, they do encourage you to work, they do encourage you to go outside of your boundaries, meet new people, try new jobs,” said Montgomery, who works as a resident assistant and student tour guide. She switched from nursing to economics last year after she realized that while she admires nurses, business was a better fit for her. She said ultimately she would like to either go to law school or pursue consulting.

Montgomery said she’s confident about her career prospects, noting the school is generally well-regarded. She also credited her advisers who, she said, “helped me come up with different career paths, they helped me find goals to accomplish.”