UW Oshkosh has been ranked No. 95 on the list of Top 100 Low-Cost Colleges for Philosophy Degree Programs for 2020 by Great Value Colleges.

Julie McCaulley, Great Value College’s online relations representative, said the company compiles rankings in an effort to contribute to the academic mission of higher learning institutes.

“We provide pertinent, unbiased information for prospective students and working professionals to aid them in making more informed decisions as they seek to further their education,” McCaulley said.

UWO philosophy professor David Gilboa said a great feature of the philosophy degree program is the open door policy their faculty practice.

“Literally, every student is allowed to visit our instructional staff practically any time they have a question or a comment, or [if they] just want to talk about life,” Gilboa said.

Gilboa said the best the administration can do, in terms of improvement for the program, is to add teaching positions so that more UWO students can benefit from the classes.

“Given a major in philosophy from our department, a student may go on to do just about anything in the job market,” Gilboa said.

UWO philosophy professor Evan Williams said when it comes to UWO specifically, students benefit from an unusually wide selection of opportunities for sharing their ideas with others.

“UWO philosophy majors routinely present at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Philosophical Association, the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and our local Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Activity,” Williams said.

McCaulley said the rankings are determined by using data collected from College Navigator regarding tuition, as well as program information gleaned directly from each institution’s official website.

“For more sizeable rankings, the methodology used to determine placement is based primarily on tuition, but also considers things like program flexibility, customization within the degree program both in content and format, and an overall ‘wow’ factor which highlights each program’s unique offerings and set it apart from the pack,” McCaulley said.