<p>I have recently suggested that the cost of attending college should be included in rankings such as USNWR. Some have challenged this idea, arguing that cost has no role in the evaluation of what constitutes "America's Best Colleges" (this is how USNWR headlines its annual ranking survey). What is your view and, if you are positive on the idea of including cost in the rankings, what weighting would you consider appropriate?</p>
<p>I think the cost factor is personal. But there are ratings that factor it in...such as Kiplingers.</p>
<p>I would mention, though, that less-expensive (public) schools can be an academic advantage...since for a given budget, a student can take more classes. Perhaps explore other fields that he otherwise couldn't afford to consider. Perhaps even end up with extra degrees.</p>
<p>I almost never see this mentioned, but it is a very real advantage to a less expensive education.</p>
<p>There are wonderful professors at schools that cost less and hence have less money. Plus, when you are a smart student surrounded by not quite so smart students, I imagine it is easier to access a professor who really is interested in you, as opposed to being one of fifty other bright student's in a class.</p>
<p>Although some rankings try to incorporate cost, e.g. Kiplinger's as previously mentioned, there are two reasons why it is best treated as a separate issue. First, cost matters a great deal more to some people than others. Second, the price of any given school can be very different for each student attending given need based aid, merit aid, and athletic scholarships. Kiplinger's deals with this by using averages but as we all know it is possible to drown in pool with an average depth of 2 feet.</p>
<p>No. Quality is what you are looking for. Cost is a personal factor.</p>
<p>I think it would be a legitimate thing to factor in. I don't think it's necessary, by any means, but no rankings are perfect, and I don't think cost is necessarily inferior to some of the other things used. I do understand why some would not want it in there, though. I find the fact that cost can vary so much between individual students to be the most convincing reason for this.</p>
<p>I second what curious 14 said. Plus, it could be pretty thorny to manage the disparity resident/nonresident tuition, when it comes to publics.</p>
<p>Here are the top 30 private schools in the country based on low cost:
Lynchburg General Hospital School of Nursing 6798
Berea College 7640
Brigham Young University-Hawaii 9560
Wesley College 10260
Hobe Sound Bible College 10510
Trinity Baptist College 10800
Brigham Young University-Idaho 11400
Emmaus Bible College 12010
Zion Bible College 12223
Family of Faith College 12670
The Baptist College of Florida 13036
Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing 13157
Boise Bible College 13200
Brigham Young University 13240
Community Hospital School of Nursing 13324
Webb Institute 13930
Bryn Athyn College of the New Church 13964
Central Bible College 14349
Calvary Bible College and Theological Seminary 14373
Johnson Bible College 14400
Boston Baptist College 15027
Williams Baptist College 15300
Cincinnati Christian University 15330
Magdalen College 15470
St Joseph's College of Nursing at St Joseph's Hospital Health Center 15776
Emmanuel College 15900
The College of Saint Thomas More 16045
Barclay College 16133
Trinity College of Florida 16375
Grove City College 16796</p>
<p>We'd be screwed at BU :P</p>