Blogs and Stories
20 Colleges Worth the Price
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
With the economy tanking and lending down, who can afford tuition? From low prices to hefty scholarships to creative accounting, Kathleen Kingsbury ranks the schools with the highest marks in value.
UPDATE: 5 More Colleges Worth the Price
As college-admissions offices start to mail decision letters this week, the tension around many families’ kitchen tables is growing. Sure, parents are worried about whether or not their kid will get into his first choice. But with the stock market plummeting and credit dried up, the real $64,000 (and up) question this year is: How to pay for it? Tuition alone averaged at least $25,000 at private colleges and $6,500 at public ones last fall. “There’s going to be a lot of handholding in college-admissions and financial-aid offices this spring,” says Tom Mortenson, a higher-education analyst. “People are scared stiff.”
So The Daily Beast set out to find the top 20 best values this year. Talking to higher-education experts, high-school guidance counselors, and college consultants generated a list of schools experts say are worth the expense. To winnow the field and rank the contenders, we placed academic qualifications—such as GPAs, SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, faculty degrees, and graduation rates—against the bottom line of tuition and fees. Some colleges made the list for their tough curriculums and low tuitions. Others because grads’ earning potential is high and financial-aid packages are generous. Of course, there will always be a disparity between what state residents pay in tuition and fees compared to students who are coming from out of state. In some states, however, that difference is worth the cost. And there are even some schools that are completely free… if you can get in.
Every student at Cooper Union this fall will get a $33,000 full-tuition scholarship, making it a great deal if you’re interested in one of the school’s three majors: architecture, art, and engineering.
Here’s a look at the colleges and universities where you’ll get the best bang for your buck in the coming year:
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A solid academic reputation, reasonably priced tuition, and excellent athletic teams has made this large research institution a top choice for decades. UNC-Chapel Hill’s ability to meet 100 percent of financial need makes it an even more obvious addition to this list. The Carolina Covenant, as it is called, allows low-income students to graduate debt-free. “UNC proves that saving money doesn't mean sacrificing quality,” says Maureen O’Rourke, a Boston high-school college counselor. “That’s the kind of value people are looking for these days.”
2. Harvard University Whatever the cost, a Harvard degree will always open doors. But in recent years, Harvard has also made its financial-aid packages so generous that it’s one of the country’s most-affordable options, too. Harvard officials sent shock waves through academia in 2007 by detailing a new financial-aid policy that will charge families making up to $180,000 just 10 percent of their household income per year, substantially subsidizing the annual cost of more than $45,600 for all but its wealthiest students. That means it costs more to pay in-state tuition at Berkeley than to attend Harvard. One possible hitch? This largesse is funded by Harvard’s huge endowment, which has lost at least $8 billion since last June. Waiting in the wings, though, are Princeton and Stanford, both of which have recently revamped their aid policies to be more munificent as well.
3. New College of Florida This Sarasota institution is the state of Florida’s public honors college—it’s known for a rigorous, if unconventional, teaching style. All courses are pass/fail, and professors offer assessments through written evaluations. New College’s 650 students earned average SAT scores in the top percentile, and the average GPA of admitted students is 3.94. Plus, out-of-state tuition is 40 percent less than the national average for private schools, and 96 percent of financial-aid need is met.
4. Rice University Often called the Ivy of the South, Rice easily has the lowest annual pricetag of any highly selective private school in the country. At $31,000 next fall, its tuition is thousands of dollars less than the Ivy League. Add in low fees and reasonable housing costs, and Rice grads have one of the lowest debt burden among peers at similar schools. In fact, most students graduate with no debt at all. Need-based loans are capped at under $3,000 per year thanks to the college’s hefty endowment. Before the financial crash this fall, the enviable endowment-to-student ratio worked out to about $780,000 to one.
5. Swarthmore College Nearly half of all undergrads at this small, liberal-arts college outside Philadelphia receive some type of aid as Swarthmore meets 100 percent of the demonstrated need for U.S. citizens. It does so by replacing loans with grants in financial-aid packages, spending $1.7 million to do so from its $1.5 billion endowment. That’s a practice that has become common among several elite schools, including Massachusetts’ Williams and Amherst Colleges and Davidson College in North Carolina. What sets Swarthmore apart is a handful of merit-based scholarships that make it even more affordable.
6. Cooper Union Every student at Cooper Union this fall will get a $33,000 full-tuition scholarship, making it a great deal if you’re interested in one of the school’s three majors: architecture, art, and engineering. Getting in requires good grades and test scores—only 11 percent of applicants are admitted. Once there, the student-faculty ratio is 8 to 1, and three-quarters of alumni go on to grad school. One cost Cooper Union doesn’t cover? The price of living in New York City.
7. University of Virginia UVA is one of the toughest public universities to get into in the nation. Its applicants have top SAT scores and an average GPA of 4.05. Once there, students can relish its beautiful Charlottesville setting, superb faculty, great sports teams, and even good state-school parties. For Virginia residents, the cost per year is low—just $8,500 in 2007-2008. Out-of-state tuition, however, skyrockets to nearly $28,000. Luckily UVA is a rare state university with a large endowment, so it covers 100 percent of demonstrated need, largely through grants.
8. California Institute of Technology Caltech long ago established its academic bona fides—the Pasadena mecca for tech-geeks last year admitted just 17 percent of applicants. On campus, the student-faculty ratio is 3-to-1. But Caltech also meets 100 percent of demonstrated need for every aid recipient, and two-thirds of students receive some type of university aid, either in the form of merit scholarships or grants.
9. United States Naval Academy Attending any U.S. military academy is free. In fact, starting in the first year, students are paid a monthly stipend. Of course, much of that amount goes to paying for books, uniforms, and services, but at the Naval Academy, anything left over can be socked away in the Midshipmen Investment Fund, which invests in mutual funds. Getting in is tough—a congressional nomination is needed. After graduation, however, the sky’s the limit when it comes to career options—that is, once you fulfill your five-year military commitment.
10. Brigham Young University It’s hard to find a better bargain than BYU. Annual tuition is less than $4,000 to attend classes on the school’s pristine Provo, Utah, campus. Top firms regularly recruit from BYU and its graduates attend some of the best MBA, medical, and law programs in the country. One catch: If you aren’t a Mormon, you’ll pay more to attend BYU. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints supports the school financially through the tithing of its members around the world. The church’s deep pockets have bankrolled world-class facilities, faculty, and athletic teams.
11. College of William & Mary As a public institution—yes, William & Mary is a state school—tuition is low, just over $5,000 a year for Virginia residents. But only the cream of crop in high-school seniors will roam this idyllic campus come fall. William & Mary accepts just 34 percent of applicants, and more than three-quarters of freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class. Alums go on to first-tier graduate programs and prestigious careers—comedian Jon Stewart, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and five U.S. presidents count among their numbers.
12. Webb Institute Sometimes it pays to specialize. Funded by a 19th-century naval architect, tuition is free at the Webb Institute, one of the best schools on earth if you’re interested in learning how to build ships. Located on New York's Long Island, the program is an intense curriculum of math and science with a student-faculty ratio of 12 to 1. Students pay only living expenses, which federal grants and loans often cover.
13. Pomona College Nearly 90 percent of Pomona’s freshmen were in the top 10th percentile of their high-school class. To bring the best of the best to its Southern California campus, Pomona guarantees 100 percent of need is met. This promise extends even to international students—a rare inclusion—in order to maintain diversity.
14. The SUNY system New York state’s university system attracts some of the brightest students in the nation, and even out-of-state costs, at about $22,000, are low compared to similar state institutions. SUNY-Binghamton and SUNY-Geneseo especially stand out. More than 80 percent of financial need is met by both schools, and students on average leave the system with less than $20,000 in debt. This affordability may soon change, though—students throughout the state marched in protest late last semester when it was announced that New York would cut more than a quarter of its higher-education budget.
15. Cornell University Most of Cornell’s prestigious programs are private and cost nearly $50,000 for tuition plus living expenses this school year. But one little-known fact about the Ithaca university is that it is, in part, a land-grant state institution. That means three undergraduate colleges—Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology, and Industrial and Labor Relations—are state schools. In-state tuition is $14,624 for New York residents, about half the cost of private Cornell.
16. Yale University Second only, perhaps, to Harvard or Princeton, Yale grads see their Ivy League pedigree pay off in spades, whether in landing the best job or getting into the best grad program. Yale’s admissions have been entirely need-blind for 30 years, and all financial need is met through scholarships and loans. But even for students receiving Yale scholarships, the average family responsibility in 2007-2008 was still more than $20,000 per year.
17. University of Georgia Football, barbeque, and fraternity parties are the usual draws to Athens, Georgia. But state residents can also find a good deal on education. Any high-school senior with a 3.0 GPA or higher qualifies for the state’s HOPE scholarships, which are funded by lottery proceeds. That has amounted to $2.9 billion in aid to students in the past 15 years.
18. Centre College Each year more than 85 percent of Centre College’s students receive some form of financial aid, two-thirds of which is need-based. Plus, tuition at this small private college outside Lexington, Kentucky, is already low at $28,000. Centre’s selling point, though, is the Centre Commitment, which guarantees every student the chance to study abroad, an internship, and graduation in four years—or they get up to an additional year of study tuition-free. An impressive 97 percent of Centre’s graduates complete their degrees in four years.
19. Vanderbilt University True, attending Vanderbilt is expensive—total costs at the Nashville institution were about $51,000 this school year. But some 60 percent of undergrads received aid and an additional third got need-based grants. That aid totaled nearly $70 million from the school’s endowment in the 2007-2008 school year—a generosity that eclipsed even Harvard’s.
20. The College of New Jersey Located an hour from both New York and Philadelphia, the College of New Jersey in Ewing offers small class sizes and quality students—the majority of those admitted last year ranked in the top quarter of their high-school class. The school admits less than half of applicants, making it highly selective for a public institution. It also offers a host of merit scholarships for both in-state and out-of-state students that can cover up to full tuition costs.
RELATED: 5 More Colleges Worth the Price by Kathleen Kingsbury
CORRECTION: This article originally referred to The Carolina Covenant as The Carolina Commitment.
Kathleen Kingsbury is a writer based in New York. She's a contributor to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Amateur Hour at the White House
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Top 10 College Admissions Tips
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
The Campus Suicide Crisis
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
How to Write a Winning Ivy League Essay
Kathleen Kingsbury covers education for The Daily Beast. She also contributes to Time magazine, where she has covered business, health and education since 2005.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
What about the University of California. Berkeley and UCLA are top ranked schools and are still pretty cheap for people who live in-state, which is a huge percent of the US population.
Yeah, the UC system has some good choices.
Also, Canadian schools provide an excellent education at a great value. There is a wide choice of schools in Canada, which include major research institutions as well as small liberal arts-style schools. Fox News in Washington D.C. actually just did a story on Canadian universities: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/maryland/030109_canadian_colleges_can_be_ec onomic_bargain
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
MIT & Cal Tech should rank first. These are tough schools loaded with brilliant minds interested in education and solving problems.. After four years you get a degree and recruiters are all over the students because they know the meaning of the word "work". Students who choose these schools make a conscious choice to study hard- they can go to any school- but choose education rather than playing party boy on other peoples money. Berkeley, another great gem is missing from the list. The last thing this country needs during these precarious times are more GW legacy types or Rumsfeld buttoned down brains. Alot of good that Skull and Bones, Eating Club Crap has accomplished!!
Cal, UCLA, Michigan are all generally considered to be on par with UVA. Their in-state and out-of state tuition are the same.
This article is problematic not because of its bias towards east coast schools (though the author's subjectivity is egregious), but its illogical favoritism of small, rather obscure liberal arts colleges at the expense of top-tier, state funded research universities. To begin, the author chooses Harvard as the number 2 most "valuable" school, presumably because it "will always open doors" for its graduates. Fine, that's a good reason to earn the #2 stop on a top 20 "worth the price" list. Harvard is, indeed, home to an extraordinary group of faculty, Nobel Laureates, and researchers who provide their students with the top tier education that employers and higher learning institutions trust, value, and covet. But to follow Harvard with The New College of Florida, where all classes are Pass/Fail (perhaps a more toxic approach to performance evaluation than Harvard's lenient grade-inflationary practices) and where the main objective of its professors is not to conduct innovative research and development in their field but rather to culminate a strong teacher-student relationship vis-a-vis small class sizes and a hyperactive student adviser department is inaccurate at best and dangerous at worst.
First off, research institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), University of Wisconsin, and University of Michigan provide their undergraduates with unique, unparalleled resources like laboratories stocked with science professors who pioneer the fields of medicine, mathematics, and physics, libraries where freshman may be sitting a seat away from the world's leading political theorist, historian and/or philosopher, and yes, great basketball and football teams to match (for those who who equate a raging football tailgate with a valuable college package). Graduates from these universities are oftentimes better trained to "think outside the box" and make use of their available resources, more seasoned to operate independently and efficiently, and possess a greater understanding of the work-reward ratio that defines our capitalist economy, for you won't find grade inflation or brown-nosing awards at these schools. Not to mention, first-class knowledge of how to get around a bureaucratic system second only to that of the Federal Government, a life tool which students from Kentucky's Centre College may only acquire some years after leaving Arlington's borders and letting go of the many hands that held them.
Finally, in promoting small, liberal arts schools and Ivy Leaguers on behalf of their seminar-style classes and generous tuition packages, the author is exacerbating the very problem she cites as the cause of large, public research universities' alleged lack of value. Public schools such as UC Berkeley and University of Michigan fall below Harvard and Vanderbilt University in regards to financial aid and assistance not because of a lack of generosity but because of their historic admission of the "the many" rather than "the few." While Harvard and Yale practiced an openly nepotistic admissions policy, favoring the sons and (sometimes) daughters of the wealthiest, Anglo-Saxon politicians and businessmen for centuries, schools like Berkeley opened their doors to anybody with a heart for academia, a policy which explains the considerable gap between Harvard's and Berkeley's alumni-supplied endowments. This is not to say that Berkeley graduates are more or less equipped to contribute to the real world, just that Berkeley is less equipped to meet the financial needs of its 30,000 students, many of which come from low-income, minority households, yet another consequence of Western Welcome in contrast to seaborg privilege and exclusion (think Harvey Milk versus John F. Kennedy). Hence, by encouraging incoming freshman and their budgeting parents to filter their acceptance letters on the basis of faculty-student ratios and financial aid and stipend packages, the author is contributing to the financial issues plaguing large, state-funded research universities who rely so much on their undergraduates' tuition to fund not only the faculty's research expenses and teaching salaries but also the graduate students that are lacking from schools such as the College of New Jersey and Swarthmore College. For in the end, the small-liberal arts colleges that fill this top-20 list would be obsolete without the research contributions of huge, state schools like Wisconsin, Berkeley, UCLA and Michigan, which may not be as generous financially, but have never failed to provide an education of the utmost, if not priceless, value.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
This article is problematic not because of its bias towards east coast schools (though the author's subjectivity is egregious), but its illogical favoritism of small, rather obscure liberal arts colleges at the expense of top-tier, state funded research universities. To begin, the author chooses Harvard as the number 2 most "valuable" school, presumably because it "will always open doors" for its graduates. Fine, that's a good reason to earn the #2 stop on a top 20 "worth the price" list. Harvard is, indeed, home to an extraordinary group of faculty, Nobel Laureates, and researchers who provide their students with the top tier education that employers and higher learning institutions trust, value, and covet. But to follow Harvard with The New College of Florida, where all classes are Pass/Fail (perhaps a more toxic approach to performance evaluation than Harvard's lenient grade-inflationary practices) and where the main objective of its professors is not to conduct innovative research and development in their field but rather to culminate a strong teacher-student relationship vis-a-vis small class sizes and a hyperactive student adviser department is inaccurate at best and dangerous at worst.
First off, research institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley (and Los Angeles), University of Wisconsin, and University of Michigan provide their undergraduates with unique, unparalleled resources like laboratories stocked with science professors who pioneer the fields of medicine, mathematics, and physics, libraries where freshman may be sitting a seat away from the world's leading political theorist, historian and/or philosopher, and yes, great basketball and football teams to match (for those who who equate a raging football tailgate with a valuable college package). Graduates from these universities are oftentimes better trained to "think outside the box" and make use of their available resources, more seasoned to operate independently and efficiently, and possess a greater understanding of the work-reward ratio that defines our capitalist economy, for you won't find grade inflation or brown-nosing awards at these schools. Not to mention, first-class knowledge of how to get around a bureaucratic system second only to that of the Federal Government, a life tool which students from Kentucky's Centre College may only acquire some years after leaving Arlington's borders and letting go of the many hands that held them.
Finally, in promoting small, liberal arts schools and Ivy Leaguers on behalf of their seminar-style classes and generous tuition packages, the author is exacerbating the very problem she cites as the cause of large, public research universities' alleged lack of value. Public schools such as UC Berkeley and University of Michigan fall below Harvard and Vanderbilt University in regards to financial aid and assistance not because of a lack of generosity but because of their historic admission of the "the many" rather than "the few." While Harvard and Yale practiced an openly nepotistic admissions policy, favoring the sons and (sometimes) daughters of the wealthiest, Anglo-Saxon politicians and businessmen for centuries, schools like Berkeley opened their doors to anybody with a heart for academia, a policy which explains the considerable gap between Harvard's and Berkeley's alumni-supplied endowments. This is not to say that Berkeley graduates are more or less equipped to contribute to the real world, just that Berkeley is less equipped to meet the financial needs of its 30,000 students, many of which come from low-income, minority households, yet another consequence of Western Welcome in contrast to seaborg privilege and exclusion (think Harvey Milk versus John F. Kennedy). Hence, by encouraging incoming freshman and their budgeting parents to filter their acceptance letters on the basis of faculty-student ratios and financial aid and stipend packages, the author is contributing to the financial issues plaguing large, state-funded research universities who rely so much on their undergraduates' tuition to fund not only the faculty's research expenses and teaching salaries but also the graduate students that are lacking from schools such as the College of New Jersey and Swarthmore College. For in the end, the small-liberal arts colleges that fill this top-20 list would be obsolete without the research contributions of huge, state schools like Wisconsin, Berkeley, UCLA and Michigan, which may not be as generous financially, but have never failed to provide an education of the utmost, if not priceless, value.
I'm extremely disappointed in this article. Three Ivy Leagues? Yeah, yeah. We're all aware that degrees from Harvard, Yale and Cornell gather a lot of respect. We're also all aware that they have massive endowments that allow for nice financial aid packages. But what about the costs of endless piano lessons, SAT prep and private school tuition that has to come before that just to get into Harvard, Yale or Cornell. Let's face it: for most people, those schools are unrealistic. It would have been much nicer to see more options that are regularly ignored by US News and World Report.
Finally a (fairly) positive post concerning the college admissions process... It is not as bad as this author often chooses to portray it... It does work, most of the time....
I agree with the other posters about the East Coast bias!
Did you ever check out Lamar University for engineering or advertising? Didn't think so. Until America gets back to realizing that a college degree from practically anywhere is competitive, the college kids and their parents will still be piling on tons of debt to BUY DEGREES. A college degree is worth what you put into it and what you do with it after you get it. In the same breath, Kingsbury writes about the dirty little secrets of why college costs so much -- and then she proves it with this article. Wow, ObamaSpeak all the way around...is this the new language of America: B*LLSH*T????
Kingsbury could have said something intelligent about Yale and Harvard, such as the fact that certain employers (who tend to be in the professional realm, i.e. law, business, etc.) care where you get your degree, but the vast majority of employers out there don't care at all. In other words, a Harvard or Yale degree is NOT AT ALL worth the money if what you plan to do is biology or literature or teaching. The Ivy League degree might be worth something to law firms and corporations who actually believe these degrees indicate a prospective employee is better prepared than someone from moderately inexpensive schools like the University of Washington and Indiana University.
I take it as no coincidence that the comments knocking ivy league schools such as Harvard and Cornell are laden with grammatical and syntactical errors. Whining about education becomes a lot less tolerable when illiterately written.
Also, this conversation should start and end with Canadian Universities. The top three universities in Canada are cheaper than most state schools in the States, and, well, are the TOP THREE universities. That's like a Harvard Education for a TCNJ fee combined with what can only be described as 4 years of pseudo "studying abroad"... (particularly for those studying in a province where another language, say French! Quebecois! is spoken)
Get real. Only UNC (Carolina) will make the final four...
Why only The Naval Academy? The Air Force Academy and West Point offer the same deal.
annieb756 ... you don't have to spend that much money to get into Harvard. several students work hard to get into Harvard. And yea she seems to have bias towards east coast schools. so what? Carolina is an amazing, affordable institution.
I being a Canadian can give some perspective on the university scene. While the education and research is top notch, if you are into sport (while there is some) it is not at the same level of spirit as it is in the states. This might help round out an education for some. Canada has some of the best ranked university in the world in institutions like McGill, Toronto, UBC, Queens, even Western (for all the party peoples). Which brings me to my next point, the drinking age is 19 and 18 in Quebec, and while the booze might be more expensive you can pay for it with all the money you are saving.
I am now a master's student in Buffalo and enjoy some of the privilages of not being nickeled and dimed, but Canada offers top notch education for a much better price, and if you can scam yourself a Canadian address you can pay $5000 a year for that degree at McGill.
Cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are so cosmopolitan and will give you a great perspective of the world.
I would totally look into it!
This article is a comedy because it purports that any college is worth its price. As a college senior about to graduate from a college of high national prestige, I can speak from experience when I advise all bright young high school seniors to attend a cheap in-state public university, keep debt to a minimum, and get awesome grades. I may have a great education, but I paid for it with a pound of flesh.
On a side note- isn't it time to unload the dead weight faculty & PC administration taking up space at most of these prestigious universities. These phone in Profs & Administrators keep costs soaring because they are overpaid and sitting on a rocking chair giving nothing back. Students deserve more than debt when they graduate. Another decaying system that needs to be stripped down and rebuilt!
The US Merchant Marine Academy provides each Midshipman everything the other Academies do, but you will spend a year traveling the world, graduate with a Coast Guard License (so you will actually know how to handle a ship unlike Ensigns commissioned from the Naval Academy) and you have options beyond the military right out of school. It's worth the look.
Select whichever one of these prestigious schools you like. I will still kick your ass and take your lunch money.
Good morning, Sir. Glad to see my Alma Mater made the list. Did yours? Glad to see you're as belligerent as ever. When can we get together and knock down a few shots?
genoftheheart - In reference to your snarky question, the school where I completed graduate studies did. In reference to your question concerning shots, whenever you are buying them and agree to bring attractive females. That is all, carry on.
I have advanced degrees from the two top ranked schools; both are very special places. However, my undergraduate degree is from a good but not spectacular state A & M school, where I fit in socially and for which I was academically prepared. As someone pointed out above, schools like mine are also inexpensive for in-state residents. College should fit the student in terms of social life, adcademic demands and affordability.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.