An expanded ranking with a total of 200 private institutions appears on(you can also find the full list below).The site also includes slide shows of the top ten schools among both private universities and liberal arts colleges; a tool that lets readers sort colleges according to the criteria that most interest them; plus answers to the most frequently asked questions about the annual rankings.
Each year, Kiplingers assesses quality according to measurable standards, including the percentage of students who are admitted out of those who applied, the test scores of incoming freshmen, the ratio of students to faculty members, and the four- and five-year graduation rates.
This year, Kiplinger adjusted its criteria to better reflect the issues affecting families. Now, the rankings give more weight to the four-year graduation ratea measure of the colleges ability to deliver academic support and of the overall cost to families--and to colleges that keep student debt down. While the criteria have shifted, the focus on value remains the same. Many of the schools on the top 200 list have appeared in Kiplingers rankings in previous years, demonstrating that these schools consistently deliver good value.
On the face of it, private colleges are far too pricey for most families, charging an average total amount of about $37,000 a year, according to . Several of the private schools on this years list charge a sticker price of $50,000 or more, and a few charge a sticker price approaching $60,000. But thenet pricethe amount families actually payruns far less, making even the most elite schools affordable for students who qualify for financial aid. For example, at Princeton, the average financial aid reduces the total amount from $50,269 a year to a much more affordable $15,550. Pomonas total cost runs $54,010, but financial aid brings the annual total to $19,336.
At first glance, the "Best Value" schools seem to correlate with the "Best" schools in lists from U.S. News and other standard college ranking lists. The outliers among private universities in the Kiplinger's rankings that don't normally rank this high in traditional measures of academic excellence are Rice (ranked 4th), the University of Richmond (12th), and Emory University (13th). Washington University in St. Louis (ranked 15th), which was skewered in theof universities that contribute to "the public good" seems to be giving out a lot more financial aid than the Washington Monthly editors lead us to believe.
Selected from a pool of more than 600 private institutions, the schools on Kiplinger's two lists (see below) were ranked according to academic quality and affordability, with quality accounting for the majority of the total. Criteria included admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratio and graduation rates, as well as data oncost and financial aid.
But "Value" is a very subjective notion. And Kiplinger'sseems to sidestep controversies around its meaning.
Going forward, Kiplinger's should drill down deeper in order to find measures of "quality" and "value" that don't so readilycorrelate with traditional college rankings. In a 2009(in which thewas ranked number one)Kiplinger's was faulted for its bias towards financial aid to needy students, while failing to note schools that gave substantial aid based on academic merit. Frankly, I'd like to see much more financial aid based on the latter than the former. And aid to the financially needy based on a far higher standard of academic excellence. In other words, the .
For now, here's the rankings. Let me know what you think.
KiplingersTop 20 Values in Private Colleges for 2011-12:
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