Princeton Review's top 10 Best Value Colleges in the country

Parents Forum
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<p>"This year, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville was named the No. 1 “Best Value Public College,” and Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., ranked as the No. 1 “Best Value Private College.” Both schools consistently meet 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of their students — a trait shared by a number of schools featured in this year’s report.</p>

<p>The report’s authors stress that even in this dark economic climate, oodles of free financial aid can be snatched up by college-bound students and parents who know how to play the game and ask the right questions. They’re not talking about student loans that can saddle students with crushing debt loads for years to come; they’re talking about scholarships and grants that never have to be repaid."</p>

<p>The top 10 best value private colleges:</p>

<li>Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.</li>
<li>Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.</li>
<li>Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.</li>
<li>Rice University, Houston, Texas</li>
<li>Yale University, New Haven, Conn.</li>
<li>Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.</li>
<li>Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.</li>
<li>California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.</li>
<li>Pomona College, Claremont, Calif.</li>
<li>Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. </li>
</ol>

<p>Top 10 best value public colleges:</p>

<li>University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.</li>
<li>New College of Florida, Sarasota, Fla.</li>
<li>College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.</li>
<li>State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, N.Y.</li>
<li>Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.</li>
<li>North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.</li>
<li>University of California – San Diego</li>
<li>City University of New York – Hunter College, New York City</li>
<li>University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.</li>
<li>The College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J.
[On</a> a tight budget? Apply to Harvard - Parenting & Family - MSNBC.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28548647/]On”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28548647/)</li>
</ol>

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<p>Perhaps this list should be labeled "best value for those who qualify for financial aid".</p>

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<p>^^^ My first thought also.</p>

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<p>Under what income/level of assets generally qualifies for financial aid ?</p>

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<p>Exactly - I could never pay full price for those schools and would not qualify for need based aid.</p>

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<p>oodles of free financial aid.</p>

<p>Sheesh, and all we had to do was "look" for it, why didn't anyone tell us?</p>

<p>Is it behind curtain #1, #2, or #3?</p>

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<p>At Harvard, need-based aid reduces the cost of attendance to roughly that of an in-state public school for any student with an annual family income of up to $180,000.</p>

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<p>Au contraire. If you are willing to fill out all of the paperwork required and you know how to manage your assets, many families can qualify for aid. Our 2007 combined adjusted gross income was $140K and my our son has a $10K grant at UVA on top of subsidized, no interest loans (we are out-of-state). Of course, we have two in college at the same time and that gets you more aid. However, my son's friend attends Princeton and his parents earn more than we do and they get about a $15k grant. The problem is, most people believe they won't qualify and are entirely daunted by the process and have little faith in their ability to gather the required information. If you can't figure it out, there are plenty of folks out there who earn a living by helping you prepare the applications (for a fee), but if you can qualify, its worth it.</p>

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<p>Right; all the kid has to do is get in. Not so easy for your basic smart un-hooked kid from a household with an income that puts it well into upper middle class range and is therefore judged by pretty high standards in terms of what his or her scores and qualifications ought to be.</p>

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<p>Do they count the parent's assets when deciding upon financial aid or just yearly income ?</p>

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<p>What is left out of this "best value" information is the percentage of students who do receive financial aid. At many of these high cost schools 40 - 50% of admitted freshmen receive no financial aid which means the family/ student is paying full cost. That is what astounds me.</p>

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<p>"100% of demonstrated financial need"...there's a mouthful. So what does it mean? It sounds like a school will give you an award of $15,000 and if you can't meet the rest, good luck going here. And the school can still say they met their financial need 100% because $15,000 was all it was. If one doesn't qualify for financial aid through CSS Profile or FAFSA, there aren't many schools handing out $50,000 to students. Bottom line is that these stats somehow make it seem like these schools are more philanthropic with their money. Bull, I say. They not much different than most.</p>

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<p>Our family "take home" pay after all state, federal and other taxes are taken out is about 150,000. Thus, we qualify for exactly ZERO need based aid (obviously our gross pay is over 200,000). But, gross pay does us nothing, only net helps pay the bills and for our son's college. So, would someone please tell me how living in Southern California where the cost of living is much higher than in most of the country exactly how we are supposed to pay in excess of a 1/3 of our take home pay towards his education which starts next fall? Or I suppose we could saddle ourselves with PLUS loans or remove equity from our house, assuming there is anything left after the last two years. Am I bitter? Not really, but just stating a fact that it really puts a huge dent in our future to pay one out of every three dollars we make towards a private school education.</p>

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<p>mattmom,
you nailed it on the head, upper middle, unhooked kids do not get a dime unless they go down in tier, for some majors it is fine, for others not so much.
Ds friends OOS school, same SAT scoring kids from different area of the country wound up with $$, NE suburb we did not.
A local Uni offered full scholarship to d last year, funny, the school she wound up at, OOS school, won't even accept transfer credits from said full scholarship University makes one wonder the quality of above full scholarship offer.</p>

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<p>Both of my girls are at schools on the Top 50 publics list. For one, we pay almost nothing. For the other, we pay a lot (OOS).</p>

<p>I would say that both are receiving top notch educations for their repective fields of study, so from my perspective the list has some merit. Also, as in samiamy's experience, the college credits earned at a local school won't transfer...it does make you wonder about quality of education from one school to another.</p>

<p>The way colleges calculate financial aid makes them great values for the very low income, but for those of us middle classers...oh well.</p>

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<p>I guess what annoys me most about the referenced article is the tone suggesting that all one needs to do to send kid(s) to top colleges is fill out a couple of forms. Our family has two in college this year, and "list price" for the two schools is 115% of our net income. We started financial and academic planning before the girls hit HS.</p>

<p>PS, And when did a loan become financial aid???</p>

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<p>Not one un-hooked student from our NJ HS has been accepted to any of the top 10 private values in the last 5 years.....Value? you have to get in first...I would have rather seen a more realistic list of schools if you're not a hooked academic superstar.....</p>

<p>Publics are slightly more realistic in terms of admissions.......</p>

<p>Newhope: the whole article annoys me FWIW.....</p>

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<p>University (IS cost, OOS cost)
1. UVA ($20,173, $40,473)
2. New College of Florida ($16,043, $34,966)
3. William & Mary ($20,600, $39,600)
4. Binghamton ($18,718, $26,818)
5. FSU ($17,212, $31,380)
6. NCSU ($16,028, $28,846)
7. UCSD ($23,760, $44,368)
8. Hunter ($16,234, $55,434)
9. UGA ($16,758, $33,070)</p>

<p>Compare to UNC Chapel Hill ($16,370, $33,874), which should have been ranked #1 on the list. It's well-known for financial aid, and its Carolina Covenant program demonstrates its generous aid for low-income students. </p>

<p>What about Wisconsin ($19,028, $33,278)? Or UF ($15,740, $33,350)?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Compare to UNC Chapel Hill ($16,370, $33,874), which should have been ranked #1 on the list.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Agreed. I really fail to understand how UNC-Chapel Hill is not even on the list! They meet 100% of need and is one of the top public schools in that nation. What an outrage!</p>

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<p>No private college is a "best value" if you are middle class, above the threshold for massive financial aid in the form of grants, or your kid is in that category of students whose SAT is below 1400 (the normal threshold for scholarship money at prestigious colleges).</p>