About Us
GradReports helps students choose a college that will best serve their academic and financial futures by providing salary-driven rankings and alumni reviews. We believe that students deserve current and accurate data to make informed decisions, which is why we were the first to create rankings based on median salary by college major published by the U.S. Department of Education. Our rankings span over 70 campus-based bachelor’s and master’s degrees and 20 online programs. We also provide manually collected information about available degrees as well over 30,000 student reviews and ratings for more than 2,000 schools.
GradReports focuses on the data that is most relevant to prospective students — proven outcomes and high salaries, not exclusivity and prestige. We believe that making college outcomes data more accessible, transparent, and easily comparable will enable more people to choose educational paths that lead them to success and don't burden them with insurmountable debt.
On this page
GradReports is a product of Optimal, a leading higher education researcher and publisher. Optimal uses data to empower people to make better decisions about careers and education. In addition to providing comprehensive resources, Optimal gives away over $250,000 of its profit annually in needs-based scholarships.
What We Do
We provide salary-driven rankings, reviews from current students and alumni, and comparisons of salary and debt by major for over 1,000 schools. Our methodology, available on each rankings page, focuses on median salary by college major from the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to data-driven resources for comparison, we manually collect information on available degrees and coursework and publish articles on higher education topics in our magazine, The Syllabus.
Our users also have the ability to get connected with any of our partner colleges to get detailed information on the degrees they are interested in directly from school representatives.
Our Team
Sung Rhee - CEO
Understanding the difficulties of obtaining a quality, affordable education is what inspired founder and CEO Sung Rhee to found Optimal in 2004. He saw a need to create sites dedicated to providing transparent, data-driven information to empower people to make better decisions for their education and careers. He knows prestige doesn't always translate to quality, and Sung doesn't want to see students get a raw deal.
Outside of work, Sung enjoys playing basketball and adding to his collection of Gundam figurines. A fun fact about Sung is that he was a cartoonist for The Harvard Crimson during his college years.
Sung has been featured in several publications, including GeekWire and 425 Business Magazine. Additionally, the CEO Perspective he authored provides a more in-depth look into his background and how Optimal came to be.
Throughout her 11 years at the company, Brittany has provided essential leadership in the growth and development of GradReports. After helping her two younger siblings navigate the college search process and discovering the increased complexity and skyrocketing prices, Brittany became passionate about helping others find quality education options without huge financial burdens. She is a graduate of Stanford with a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Communications. When not busy working, Brittany enjoys spending time with her two dogs and three chickens, hiking mountains, and kayaking on beautiful Washington lakes.
In her 10 years at the company, Rachel has been a key driver of content growth and business strategy for GradReports. After graduating from Westmont College, Rachel worked directly with students as an SAT coach and writing tutor. As someone well-versed with the college search process, she is proud to expand the reach of websites like GradReports, which equip students to make well-informed decisions about their educational options. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading books and spending quality time with her family, including her two young boys.
After five years with the company, Taitum now leads a team of product managers dedicated to providing the most informative rankings and other school-related features on GradReports. She describes herself as “privileged and lucky” to have a tech career that allows her to provide people with the information they want and need about colleges, degree programs, and career opportunities. Taitum earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at Whitworth University. When she’s not working, Taitum enjoys listening to music and playing old-school arcade pinball.
Throughout her eight years with the company, Emily has been dedicated to providing helpful data through GradReports. In her current role as the Data Collection and Infrastructure Lead, Emily oversees our data collection projects. She also designs internal machinery to collect and publish these data. Emily comes from an education-centered family of professors and teachers. This background, as well as her tutoring work with community college students, has made Emily passionate about high-quality, accessible education. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Whitman College, and she enjoys traveling, cooking, and basking in the sun with her dog, Marge.
Tapping into his 11 years of experience in data collection and quality assurance, Ryan ensures that GradReports’ college reviews and rankings are grounded in the most accurate and timely data possible. Ryan is responsible for managing our data collection processes and the great team of data collectors that make it all possible. He has a genuine passion for making a difference in how people make decisions about their education. Ryan has earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a certificate in Full Stack Development from the University of Washington. When he’s not working with data, Ryan enjoys spending time with his dogs, Friday and Stella, and training for a marathon.
As a Marketing Manager, Nicole is passionate about informing students, colleges, and news outlets about all of GradReports’ useful resources and rankings. She first became interested in an education-focused career after working in marketing at Georgetown University. Since joining the company, she has taken on all outreach, public relations, and branding efforts. Through her work, Nicole intends to help develop an online student-centered brand that focuses on value, quality, and accessibility above all. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies from the University of Virginia, and enjoys hiking, relaxing on the beach, and exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest in her free time.
In her current marketing role, Celeste promotes the value of our data-driven resources directly to prospective students through social media as well as to news outlets and journalists. Based on her own successful college search experience, Celeste highly recommends using a resource like GradReports to thoroughly research schools, degree programs, and tuition costs before making a decision. Her own investigation took her to Washington State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Production while minoring in Business Administration. When she’s not promoting GradReports on social media, Celeste enjoys traveling—15 countries and counting—cooking, hiking, and dance.
As a former teacher and youth worker with 12 years of experience, Sarah understands the urgent need to expand access to higher education. Through her research and data collection work on GradReports, she helps create resources that enable students to make informed decisions about their educational future. Sarah also assists students directly by serving as our communications and outreach liaison. A graduate of the University of Washington, Sarah holds a Bachelor of Social Welfare and a Master of Social Work. When not working with prospective college students, she can be found mentoring children through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, traveling, and studying other languages.
In her current role at the company, Mariya works to improve rankings, reviews, and other features on GradReports. She got interested in helping others choose the best college and career options because she found online resources to be extremely valuable during her own college search. Mariya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brown University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, cooking, and studying languages.
Throughout the past five years at the company, Eliana has dedicated herself to creating the best possible experience for GradReports users. She is motivated by a desire to make educational data easily accessible to prospective students so they can make informed choices and reach their educational and career goals. Eliana is a graduate of Whitman College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Environmental Studies. In her free time, Eliana volunteers with YMCA Teen Feeds, a program that provides meals for homeless teens in the greater Seattle area. On Sundays, however, she insists on taking time out to complete the New York Times Sunday Puzzle—in pen!
Prior to joining GradReports, Taylor spent six years writing for higher education newspapers and magazines. Through this experience she gained a unique perspective on college students’ needs and challenges. She now uses this background to generate creative article ideas and produce insightful content for our site. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with a News/Editorial focus from Western Washington University. When Taylor isn’t writing, she enjoys hanging out with her cat, listening to 90s hip hop, and visiting any place that has palm trees.
A seasoned veteran of the publishing industry, Jennifer enjoys exploring education-related topics and writing informative content about higher education for our program and resource pages. Before joining GradReports, Jennifer worked in content development and creation for two of the largest higher educational textbook publishers in the U.S. Her recent experience pursuing an online Master of Arts in Marketing through Southern New Hampshire University only furthered her enthusiasm for distance learning. Jennifer also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from California State University Fullerton. In her free time, she enjoys fiction writing, painting, upcycling furniture, and traveling.
With six years of experience in writing and marketing communications, Diana is responsible for writing and editing articles and other content for our college rankings and resource pages. Diana first became interested in education writing while pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Education at the University of Washington. In her time there, she took classes in how humans learn, how society shapes learning, and the importance of equal access to education—a perspective she hopes benefits her readers. Outside of work on GradReports, you can find Diana exploring nature, reading, adding to her rock and mineral collection, or playing with her rescue pup, Olive.
Drawing upon his 11 years of experience in writing and editing, Michael creates content for multiple facets of our site. His ambition as a writer is to present prospective students with the information they need to make good choices when selecting a college. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from DePaul University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Washington University, and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Chicago. Outside of work, Michael can be found teaching and training in krav maga or volunteering with Seal Sitters, an organization in West Seattle that seeks to protect marine mammals resting on shore.
A specialist in visual design with 15 years of experience, Brian is inspired by creating visuals that are both engaging and creative. Brian is responsible for making GradReports’ content and design as visually appealing and intuitive as possible. Brian holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Emporia State University, and has gained design experience working with many companies in the digital space, such as Microsoft and T-Mobile. When not sitting in front of his computer, Brian can be found cruising around Seattle on his Honda Ruckus, listening to music, working out, or spending time in the sun.
As a content strategist, Madeline works on developing and improving the rankings on GradReports and finding ways to create better user experiences when exploring the data on the site. She is a strong believer that providing students with the right data can be incredibly helpful for the college decision-making process. After graduating from Dartmouth with a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science, Madeline gained experience working in an academic library in the scholarly communication and digital library departments. In her free time, Madeline enjoys hiking, nordic skiing, and playing flute.
Advisory Board
Meet our advisors! Our advisory board meets quarterly to review our content and to discuss how to best serve the needs of prospective students. They also contribute editorials and other expert content on GradReports.
Dr. Amy Young earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently a Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department of Communication at Pacific Lutheran University. Her research interests are in the ways experts use rhetorical style to connect with non-expert public audiences to solve social, cultural, and political problems. When she's not working Amy likes to cook, bake, drink wine, and work out to account for all of the rest.
Clinton works at Northwest Education Access (formerly Seattle Education Access) as an Education Advocate supporting low-income students and reengaging at-risk youth to achieve their higher education goals. Before joining NWEA, Clinton was an AmeriCorps Member with College Access Now as an 11th and 12th Grade College Coach. In this role, he worked with high school students at Mount Rainier High School and helped mentor and guide them through the college process. As a first-generation college graduate, Clinton saw the impact of the mentorship he received on helping him achieve his goals and graduate from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences. This inspired him to continue giving back to his community and help other youths find their educational path.
As a college student who grew up in a low-income community, Hugo has experienced the power of higher education first-hand. He has seen many peers and family members fall victim to the vices that plague the community in the absence of resources and guidance. His own higher education path has opened the door to new opportunities for a better life, and this experience has made Hugo passionate about giving back to his community and encouraging others to break out of the cycle of poverty and addiction through higher education. He is inspired to help others with similar backgrounds chase their educational dreams and create a better life for themselves. Hugo is pursuing a double major in Education and Sociology at the University of California, Riverside and plans to start his career as an education counselor for low-income, at-risk youth.
Hansell is an Education Advocate with Northwest Education Access (formerly Seattle Education Access), an organization that provides individualized guidance, connections to resources, and financial support to low-income young people in King and Pierce counties. Hansell works primarily with the Basic Studies Department at Seattle Central College, helping students transition to college. Hansell is a first-generation college graduate from Washington State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages and Cultures with an emphasis in Political Science and Sociology. Prior to joining NWEA, Hansell worked as an adviser at Federal Way Open Doors, where he helped high school students explore higher education and future goals. Hansell is dedicated to helping students continue to navigate barriers so they can achieve their dreams.
GradReports in the News
As a driver of the college outcomes and value conversation, GradReports has been featured in many national and local media outlets, including Forbes, College Confidential, and Business Insider. For more information, please visit our press page.
Professional Affiliations
Through our professional affiliations, Optimal strives to provide authoritative resources for students seeking high-quality and affordable online education programs.
Optimal is proud to be an institutional member of the Online Learning Consortium (OLC). OLC is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1999 and comprises a collaborative community of leaders and innovators in the higher education space. Members are dedicated to advancing OLC’s vision of setting the global standard for online and digital learning.
We are also an organizational member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). Over the NACAC's 80+ years of service, it has furthered diversity and social justice by providing students with a path to success. The NACAC is recognized by policy makers and education leaders as the primary authority on postsecondary transition issues, and has influenced national and state policy to enhance access to higher education.
Our Advertising Policy
GradReports makes money through lead generation. This means that we connect visitors with schools they have expressed interest in. Visitors can indicate interest in a school by filling out a contact information form and giving us permission to share their information with a particular school. For more information about how we use your data, see our privacy policy. The money we receive from schools allows us to conduct and publish detailed research into colleges and universities so prospective students are empowered to make informed choices about their education.
Our Editorial Policy
The schools with whom we have an advertising relationship are referred to as "partner schools" throughout GradReports. We ensure that our relationships with partner schools do not hinder our editorial integrity. Partner schools are clearly labeled as such throughout the site, and we never show our partner schools any preferential treatment when developing our ranking lists.
All schools featured on our site are accredited by accrediting bodies recognized by the United States Department of Education. When creating our content, we always conduct extensive research in order to ensure that we provide accurate and current information about program offerings and tuition costs. This information comes directly from schools' official websites or representatives. We also source information from government databases and agencies such as: