The University of Colorado at Boulder is one of the best values available to students seeking a good education at a reasonable price, according to The Princeton Review.
The school ranked fifth among 100 “Best Value” colleges and universities in the education magazine’s 2010 rankings, released today and presented in an interactive database on USA Today’s website.
Schools on the list offer reasonable tuition, strong academic programs and generous financial aid packages, according to USA Today, which partnered with the The Princeton Review.
The Princeton Review selected the schools based on surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private college and university campuses.
The list includes 50 public and 50 private schools and is also posted on the magazine’s web site.
“It is gratifying to have a national publication recognize what Colorado students have known for a long time: CU-Boulder is an amazing value,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.
In the past, CU-Boulder has made news by appearing on less illustrious Princeton Review lists, including the magazine’s top party schools.
“I don’t consider their methodology for ranking party schools to be solid at all,” said CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard. “When they choose to evaluate something that really is of substance and that really matters to students and parents and use methodology like they used in this one, then we are happy to acknowledge their work.”
The Princeton Review ranked the University of Virginia in Charlottesville No. 1 in the public school category and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania the No. 1 private school.
Other Top 10 public schools are
2. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York, N.Y.)
3. New College of Florida (Sarasota)
4. Florida State University (Tallahassee)
6. State University of New York-Binghamton
7. University of Georgia (Athens)
8. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg)
9. Texas A&M University (College Station)
10. University of Oklahoma (Norman)
Other private schools on the list are:
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
3. Wesleyan College (Macon, Ga.)
4. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
5. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
6. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
7. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.)
9. Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.)
10. Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.)
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
