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Granite State College was once again named as one of the nation’s Best Four-Year Colleges for Adult Learners by Washington Monthly. With the #11 position, Granite State serves as the highest-ranked institution in New England and one of just five institutions throughout the region that earned recognition in the top-50 of this competitive list.

According to Washington Monthly, nearly 30 percent of undergraduate students in the United States are over the age of twenty-five and finishing a degree after several years in the workforce. This trend intensifies the need for high-quality and affordable degree programs that are accessible to students who balance their college education with career, family, and other important commitments.

Current Fire Marshal for the State of New Hampshire, Paul Parisi ’19, enrolled at Granite State College in 2017 with nearly 30 years’ experience in Fire Safety. It was his third attempt at completing his bachelor’s degree and at that point in his life, he was raising three children entering young adulthood. Parisi appreciated the learning environment at Granite State College and its focus on adult learners whose lives and schedules were just as complex and dynamic as his own.

“Throughout my time at Granite State College, I’ve interacted and conversed with students who were working two or three jobs, members of the military who were deployed overseas, and even a mother who would often post in the middle of the night while she was up caring for her twins,” shared Parisi.

Mark Rubinstein, president of Granite State College, considers these rankings validation of the College’s commitment and to its students who, like Parisi, have unique needs that aren’t necessarily met by more traditional institutions that may lack flexible online course formats and student services that are available remotely.

“Colleagues across the College—faculty and staff—share a mission and vision for serving adult learners and creating opportunities for them to achieve personal and professional success.  Serving those students well is our sole focus and what drives our work, but it is still a source of pride and encouragement for the Granite State College Community to be acknowledged by Washington Monthly as consistently among the best in the nation for serving these students,” shared Rubinstein.

According to the editors, nine metrics are analyzed to develop the  rankings: ease of transfer, flexibility of programs, services available for adult students, percent of adult students (age 25+), graduation rates for part-time students, mean earnings of independent students ten years after entering college, loan repayment rates of adult students five years after entering repayment, tuition and fees for in-district students, and percent of credentials awarded for bachelor’s degrees.

To view the complete rankings, please visit  and their 2019 College Guide.