Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia is 10th in a new ranking by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine of the best values among 100 public colleges and universities in America. The ranking appears in the February 2007 issue of the magazine, which will be on newsstands Jan. 9.
Schools on the list “combine outstanding economic value with a first-class education” according to the magazine, which compiles the list periodically.
More than 500 four-year public colleges and universities were surveyed for the ranking and the top 100 were chosen on the basis of academic quality, cost and financial aid.
The magazine puts total annual costs to attend UGA at $12,558 for students from Georgia and $25,450 for out-of-state students. UGA’s in-state cost is third lowest among the top 10 schools.
The magazine says students graduate from UGA with an average debt of $13,422-lowest among the top 10 schools.
According to Fred Frailey, Kiplinger’s editor, tuition and fees at four-year public institutions have risen 35 percent in the last four years. But the magazine notes that many of the top-100 schools hold costs down with income from lotteries, university-branded apparel and private fundraising.
Many of the 100 schools also offer merit-based financial aid to high-achieving students, according to the magazine, which notes that virtually all UGA first-year students from Georgia receive the HOPE Scholarship, which covers tuition and fees.
Two other Georgia schools are in the top 100-the Georgia Institute of Technology, ranked 13th, and Georgia College and State University, ranked 79th.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tops the list, as it has in all previous rankings. UNC pays 100 percent, without loans, of the financial need of all accepted freshman whose families qualify for financial aid.
Other schools in the top 10 include The University of Florida, College of William and Mary,
University of Virginia, Binghamton University, New College of Florida, State University of New York at Geneseo, University of California at San Diego and University of Washington.