Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

January 12, 2012

Pitt ranks 29th for in-state students in best-value survey

header-kip-logoPitt is the highest ranked among the three Pennsylvania public institutions listed in the 100 best values in public colleges nationwide, according to a report released this month.

Washington, D.C.-based Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked Pitt 29th nationally among four-year public institutions that deliver the best education at the best prices for its in-state students. Pitt also ranked 15th nationally for best value for its out-of-state students.

Last year, Pitt ranked 28th nationally for in-state and eighth for out-of-state students on the list.

The top five schools this year for in-state students on the Kiplinger list are North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Florida, Virginia, William and Mary and the New College of Florida. For out-of-state students, the magazine lists as the top five North Carolina-Chapel Hill, State University of New York-Binghamton, State University of New York College at Geneseo, William and Mary and Virginia.

Pennsylvania schools Penn State-University Park ranked 51st for in-state and 47th for out-of-state students, and West Chester University ranked 90th for in-state and 84th for out-of-state students on the Kiplinger top 100 list.

The magazine, which has published the rankings annually since 1998, considered such criteria as tuition; average student-loan debt of graduates; cost after need-based aid is factored in; test scores of incoming freshmen, and admission rates.

According to the magazine’s web site, its editors start with data from more than 500 public four-year schools and then narrow the list to 100 schools “based on measures of academic quality, including SAT or ACT scores, admissions and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and six-year graduation rates. The editors then rank each school based on cost and financial aid. Academic quality carries more weight than costs.”

The editors further stated: “We’ve retooled our rankings to give more weight to criteria we consider crucial to academic value, including the percentage of students who return for sophomore year and the four-year graduation rate. Each category measures a college’s ability to keep students engaged and on track for graduation. On the cost side, we continue to reward colleges with low sticker prices and abundant financial aid. But now, as student debt grows worrisome, we give bonus points to colleges that keep borrowing low.”

The magazine measures an institution’s value based on weighted criteria: Cost and financial aid (33 percent); student indebtedness (14 percent); competitiveness (high test scores among incoming freshmen, a low admission rate and a high yield) (22 percent); graduation rates (18 percent), and academic support (13 percent).

The “Kiplinger 100: Best Values in Public Colleges, 2011-12,” will be published in the February edition of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. To view the list online go to www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/.

—Peter Hart

Filed under: Feature,Volume 44 Issue 9

Leave a Reply