<p>(from Houston Chronicle)</p>
<p>Kiplinger calls Rice University better value than Harvard, Stanford and more</p>
<p>A good education is one of the best investments your kids can make in their life. But like all good investments its best to do some research and make a smart choice.</p>
<p>Kiplinger has done some of that research for you and found that an education from Rice University ranks as a pretty good use of your money.</p>
<p>Thats good news for parents who want their kids to stick close to home here in Houston. (The bad news is Rice is hard to get into, but thats a whole other post.)</p>
<p>Heres how the rankings are scored:</p>
<pre><code>Cost and financial aid: The most points go to schools with overall low tuition. Points were also given to schools that offer need and non-need based aid. (31.25 percent)
Competitiveness: Test scores and the caliber of students the university attracts were analyzed. (25 percent)
Academic support: The freshman retention rate, class size and availability of mentoring and support account were taken into account. (12.5 percent)
Graduation rates: Since the longer you attend the more youre going to pay, points are given to schools that get students out with a degree in four to five years. (18.75 percent)
Student indebtedness: Points are given to schools that keep debt down and the number of students forced to borrow money low. (12.5 percent)
</code></pre>
<p>According to the report, Rice ranks just below Princeton, Yale and California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.</p>
<p>The universitys comparatively low tuition, high percentage of non-need based aid, small class sizes and competitive atmosphere has it beating out other big name universities such as Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, Columbia, MIT and Stanford.</p>