The Princeton Review Ranks Agnes Scott One of the Nation's 50 "Best Value" Colleges

Agnes Scott College has been ranked among the 50 "Best Value" private colleges and universities in America for 2009 by The Princeton Review, publisher of college guidebooks and provider of other education services.

The Best Value Colleges were selected on the basis of surveys conducted with administrators and students at more than 650 public and private schools. The list features a total of 100 schools: 50 public and 50 private colleges and universities. The selection criteria covered more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, cost of attendance and financial aid.

"In these tough economic times, students and families are looking for schools that combine academic quality with reasonable cost. So it’s especially gratifying that Agnes Scott has been recognized as one of the best college values in America," said Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott College.

"Those who know Agnes Scott cite its stellar academic quality, lively classrooms, the warmth of our campus community and generous financial aid – and we still cost less than many of our peers. I’m also very proud that Agnes Scott is one of only four women’s colleges to make the list," Kiss said.

Agnes Scott is the only women’s college in the Southeast and the only private college in Georgia on the list. It joins Barnard, Smith and Bryn Mawr among women’s colleges nationwide and Emory, UGA, Georgia Tech and Georgia State College & University among institutions in Georgia.

In its profile of Agnes Scott on USA Today’s website, the editors of The Princeton Review emphasized the strength of Agnes Scott’s academic offerings and the ability of professors to make topics “accessible and interesting,” as well as the school’s “exceptionally beautiful campus,” diverse student body and “bustling vibe.”

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Kiplinger's Names Emory a Top 10 Best Value

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has ranked Emory University ninth among the 100 best values in private universities that exemplify excellent academics while keeping costs to a minimum. See Kiplinger's 2009 Best Values: Private Colleges & Universities.

Selected from a pool of more than 600 private institutions provided by Peterson's, schools in the Kiplinger 100 are ranked according to academic quality and affordability, with quality accounting for two-thirds of the total.

Resources Remain Strong for Financial Aid

The Princeton Review also named Emory among its best values in private schools this week. The rankings reflect Emory's continuing commitment to “need blind” admissions and to meeting the full, demonstrated financial need for dependent, traditional undergraduate students. Emory also is working to increase accessibility for low- and middle-income students through the Emory Advantage grant and loan relief program and other financial aid.

"Emory, like all institutions and businesses, is having to adjust to a new economic reality and this will impact the budget in a variety of ways. However, financial aid is among our top priorities and we expect to devote more – not fewer – resources to financial aid in the coming years to ensure that all students who are admitted can attend independent of economic background," says Santa Ono, senior vice provost for undergraduate education.


Kiplinger's 2009 Top 10

The annual private school rankings appear in Kiplinger's February 2009 issue and at www.kiplinger.com.

California Institute of Technology
Yale
Princeton
Rice
Duke
Harvard
Dartmouth College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Emory
Stanford

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Princeton Review Names Georgia Tech One of Best Values

Georgia Tech was named one of top 50 best values for public colleges in 2009. The top ten public colleges were ranked, followed by an alphabetical listing of the remaining 40 school who made the list.

The Princeton Review selected these institutions as its “best value” choices for 2009 based on its surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private colleges and universities. The selection criteria covered more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs of attendance, and financial aid, using the most recently reported data from each institution for its 2007-08 academic year.

Princeton Review ranks University of Virginia, New College of Florida and the College of William and Mary as the top three best values.

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Georgia Southern University Named One of Kiplinger’s Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges

Georgia Southern University has for the first time been named one of the Top 100 Best Values by Kiplinger, a noted personal finance and business forecasting company.

Georgia Southern is one of only three Georgia universities to be recognized in the annual list that helps parents of prospective students identify outstanding universities that not only provide a good education for their sons or daughters, but offer an outstanding investment. The other two Georgia institutions named to the list include the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia.

“We are very pleased to be recognized as one of the best values in the country,” said Dr. Teresa Thompson, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Georgia Southern University. “While Georgia Southern University has continued to grow, we have done so in a way that allows us to attract outstanding students from across the country and around the world. Parents are recognizing the value of a Georgia Southern education and students are applying at record numbers.”

Kiplinger bases its college rankings on a combination of outstanding academic quality and affordable tuition. The publication examines nationwide data from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities provided to Peterson's/Nelnet. The list is then narrowed to about 120 schools based on several measures of academic quality, including the 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), admissions rates, freshmen retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates.

This year, Georgia Southern University announced enrollment of 17,764 students, freshman retention of 81 percent and an average freshman SAT score of 1,111. Each was an all-time high for the growing University.

Kiplinger also ranks each school based on cost and financial aid. The rankings look at total cost for in-state students (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books) along with several other factors.

“Georgia Southern University has undergone a period of incredible growth, not only in size, but in quality,” said Thompson. “We are proud of our accomplishments and the work of our students, faculty and staff.”

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Arts Across Georgia

UGA 4th in Kiplinger's "Best Value" Ranking

The University of Georgia moved up three places to fourth in this year's ranking of best values among 100 public colleges and universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

UGA moved up from its seventh place spot in last year’s Kiplinger's list, which ranks public schools on "a combination of outstanding academic quality and an affordable price tag." The new ranking is in the magazine's December issue, which hits newsstands Nov. 11.

More than 500 colleges and universities were surveyed for the ranking and the top 100 were chosen based on academic quality, cost and financial aid.

The magazine puts total annual costs to attend UGA at $14,458 for students from Georgia and $30,770 for out-of-state students. After financial aid is taken into account, average costs are $7,918 for in-state students and $24,230 for out-of-state students. UGA’s in-state cost is fourth lowest among the top 10 schools.

The magazine says students graduate from UGA with an average debt of $14,420, second-lowest among the top 10 schools.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked number one on Kiplinger's list and the universities of Florida and Virginia ranked second and third, respectively, followed by UGA, which ranked fourth. Other colleges and universities ranking in the top ten are the College of William and Mary (5th), State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo (6th), SUNY Binghamton (7th), New College of Florida (8th), University of Maryland, College Park (9th) and University of California, San Diego (10th).

Two other Georgia schools are in the top 100—Georgia Institute of Technology, ranked 16th, and Georgia Southern University, ranked 92nd.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has a circulation of about 800,000 and has been publishing since 1947.

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Georgia Tech Rank #16 Among Kiplinger’s Best Values

Georgia Tech receives national accolade for best value, ranking 16th among Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 100 best values in public colleges. Kiplinger ranks four-year institutions based top-notch academics and economic value.

Schools were selected from a pool of more than 500 public universities. The ranking reflects a variety of criteria including student-faculty ratios, four and six-year graduation rates, retention rates, tuition costs and need-based financial aid.

Kiplinger’s top three schools are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Florida and the University of Virginia.

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