<p>For anyone interested in cost-factored school rankings, Kiplinger just updated their best-value list for 2009...</p>
<p>Rankings</a> for 100 Best Values in Public Colleges</p>
<p>Incidentally...the list can be sorted by in-state or OOS costs by clicking the tabs...</p>
<p>I guess they decided Temple doesn't exist, considering it's cheaper than PSU and Pitt for both in state and out of state...</p>
<p>TUOwls, they only had 100 schools included in this. They aren't going to have space for every college in the states.</p>
<p>Well they had space for Pitt. We're just as much of a major school (of the big three in PA).</p>
<p>Seriously, if they had space for Murray State, Minnesota Morris, Northern Arizona, Louisiana Tech, Illinois State, Ramapo, Western Washington, and West Chester, they could've included us...</p>
<p>You're right that it is strange to include some of the places that they did. I haven't even heard of some of those. I wonder what their criteria was for inclusion.</p>
<p>Wow, Truman State is #20 on the list, maybe I should apply there.</p>
<p>I think this list is very useful. I especially like it for students who want to go away to school and are not eligible for financial aid (parents make too much money), are not eligible for a lot of merit aid, but whose parents will not be contributing toward their college expenses. It lets you see that there are some reasonable schools out there that are not too expensive, that would not lead to huge loans. You can click on the column headed "total out of state costs" without financial aid and the high quality, inexpensive schools bubble to the top. Here's how these schools were chosen.
[quote]
We start with nationwide data from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities, which are provided to Peterson's/Nelnet. We supplement Peterson's data with our own reporting.</p>
<p>We narrow the list to about 120 schools based on several measures of academic quality, including:</p>
<pre><code>* Percentage of the 2008-09 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT (or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT)
* Admission rates
* Freshman retention rates
* Student-faculty ratios
* Four- and six-year graduation rates, which most schools reported for the student cohort entering in 2002
</code></pre>
<p>We then rank each school based on cost and financial aid.. We look at:</p>
<pre><code>* Total cost for in-state students (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books)
* Average cost for a student with need after subtracting grants (but not loans)
* Average cost for a student without need after subtracting non-need-based grants
* Average percentage of need met by aid (need-based assistance)
* Average debt a student accumulates before graduation
</code></pre>
<p>To determine out-of-state rankings, we run the academic-quality and cost numbers again, this time using total costs for out-of-state residents and average costs after aid.</p>
<p>In our scoring system, academic quality carries more weight than costs (almost two-thirds of the total). To braek ties, we use academic-quality scores and average debt at graduation.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I also think that in today's economy, the Kiplinger list is a valuable tool for finding an out-of-state financial safety especially if you don't have one in-state - Some kids really want to go "away" to college. Look at Louisiana Tech, with a total cost of attendance under $15K per year. For Liberal Arts, check the University of Minnesota at Morris. Would you have thought of University of Wisconsin Eau Claire or University of Wisconsin LaCrosse without seeing them on this list? They are both great schools, each with a total cost of attendance less than $20K per year.</p>
<p>TUOwls2011, here's my guess for why Temple isn't on the list: In compiling this list, the top 100 public colleges are chosen first using total cost for in-state students as a criterion. Is Temple more expensive in-state than Pitt and Penn State? If so, that may be why it's not on the list, even though it is less expensive for out-of-state students.
?</p>
<p>Temple: 11,500+8,900
Pitt: 13,600+8,600
PSU: 13,700+8,300</p>
<p>?</p>
<p>I'm stumped!</p>
<p>As am I...</p>
<p>I think the answer to the question "Why PSU and Pitt, but not Temple?" lies in the explanation provided by midwestmom as to how the schools were selected. The first 2 criteria used were % of freshmen scoring above 600 on the CR and Math portions of SAT and % admitted. Looking at the College Board data, Temple falls behind both PSU and Pitt in terms of academic selectivity.</p>
<p>Pitt: Mid-50% for SAT CR (570-670) and SAT Math (580-670); 56% admitted
PSU: Mid-50% for SAT CR (530-630) and SAT Math (560-670); 51% admitted</p>
<p>Temple: Mid-50% for SAT CR (490-590) and SAT Math (490-590); 63% admitted</p>
<p>That's nice, but once again, I highly doubt Murray State has a ton of students scoring 600+...</p>
<p>My D is at Ramapo- was accepted at 7 schools on this list. She is very happy. So far I am pleased also. Dorms are as nice as any school we visited, easy access to NYC, </p>
<p>Drawbacks NJ is facing budget cuts so higher ed has been suffering and like all NJ colleges a lot of kids go home on weekends. She has stayed about 50% of the weekends but 2 visits home were for doctors.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wow, Truman State is #20 on the list, maybe I should apply there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Truman State is actually a great school. You should consider applying there. I'm also surprised that the University of Kansas and Kansas State University weren't on the list. Both are terrific values.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, Temple homer, but Murray State and Temple have similar academic profiles. The middle 50% at Temple had a ACT score of 20-25, Murray State 21-26.
At nearly half the cost of Temple to boot!</p>
<p>That's a bunch of numbers-padding BS.</p>
<p>EDIT: And no one here takes the ACT anyway.</p>
<p>ACT is a similar test to SAT and taken by people in the midwest.</p>
<p>Just because the ACT isn't taken on the east coast or Murray State isn't in Philly or New York doesn't mean it's a good school. It's every bit as good as Temple. And Pitt and Penn State are better. That's why Temple's not on the list.</p>
<p>There is a separate ranking for liberal arts colleges:</p>