The College of William & Mary has been named one of the best values in the country in Kiplinger’s 2013 list of the best public college values.
The magazine listed the college fourth on its top 100 list of American public colleges and universities that combine “outstanding education and economic value.” It is the fourth year in a row William & Mary is listed as fourth in the country. The number one spot went to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Six other Virginia schools made the list, with the University of Virginia keeping its spot at number three. The other schools include James Madison University (20th), Virginia Tech (28th), University of Mary Washington (53rd), George Mason University (56th) and Christopher Newport University (87th).
Kiplinger’s Senior Editor Jane Bennett Clark said U.Va. and W&M deserve special kudos for consistently maintaining their positions since the rankings were first published in 1998, writing, “each draw high-scoring incoming freshmen and post the highest four-year graduation rates on our list, delivering degrees to more than 80 percent of their students in four years and more than 90 percent in six.”
Kiplinger’s chose schools for the top 100 from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities. The list is initially narrowed down to about 130 schools based on admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, student-faculty ratio and four-year graduation rate. Each school is then ranked based on cost for one year of school and available financial aid.
See the slide show. The full list will appear in the February 2013 issue of the magazine.
