Schools

UGA Ranks Sixth in Value Among Public Universities and Colleges

Kiplinger's Personal Finance releases list for 2012.

The has been ranked sixth this year by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine in a list of 100 best values for public universities and colleges. The top 100 were culled from a list of 500.

Helping to determine value included in-state and out-of-state costs, average debt upon graduation, academic rigor, faculty-to-student ratio and financial aid, among other factors The list was released Tuesday electronically and is available online. It will be featured in the February edition of the print magazine.

Ranked number one in terms of value - for both in-state and out-of-state students - was the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for the 11th straight year. It stands out “on virtually every measure of quality and affordability,” according to Kiplinger’s website. Students there were graduated with an average debt of $16,165. UNC also gives an average of $11,000 in financial aid to qualifying students.

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The publication ranked UGA eighth in 2011 for an in-state value, so this year’s ranking at number six is an improvement. In an out-of-state value, UGA rose to 9th in 2012 from 19th in 2011.

The Kiplinger website says ot UGA: "This flagship university, in the music-centric town of Athens, knocks the average price down to $10,288 for students who qualify for need-based aid, and it keeps the average debt at graduation to a moderate $15,938. Virtually all the in-state freshmen at UGA benefit from the Hope scholarship, which covers about $3,182 per semester (about a third of the total tuition and fees)."

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To see how UGA stacks up against the other public colleges and universitites, according to Kiplinger's, click here.

Rounding out the top 10 are: the University of Florida (2nd), the University of Virginia (3rd), College of William and Mary (4th), New College of Florida (5th), University of California, Berkeley (7th), University of Maryland (8th), University of California, Los Angeles (9th) and University of California, San Diego (10th).

Related Topics: Rankings and University of Georgia


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