With the rising cost of college, more families are taking price into account when deciding to enroll.
Considering quality and affordability, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance just released its 100 Best Values in Public Colleges 2013.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tops the list with a total in-state cost of $18,609, a competitive admission rate of 31 percent, and 77 percent graduation rate —much higher than the average rate for four-year public schools of about 60 percent.
Others in the top 10 public colleges include:
2. University of Virginia
3. University of Florida
4. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
5. University of Maryland College Park
6. University of California, Los Angeles
7. New College of Florida
8. University of California, Berkeley
9. State University of New York, Geneseo
10. University of California, San Diego
For the best values in private colleges, released in November by Kiplinger’s, Yale University in New Haven led the list with the published price of tuition at $52,700 but the average student paying just $38,914 with the help of need-based aid. The average graduation rate at Yale is 88 percent, and just 8 percent of applicants are admitted.
Others considered top values for private colleges include:
2. Rice University, Houston
3. Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
4. Duke University, Durham, N.C.
5. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
6. Harvard University
7. Columbia University
8. Stanford University
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
10. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
To measure value, staff at Kiplinger’s looked at cost and financial aid (35 percent of determination), student indebtedness (10 percent), selectivity (22.5 percent), graduation rates (18.75 percent), and academic support (13.75 percent) as indicated by retention and faculty per student.