photo credit: matsuda.yukihiro
You might be surprised to read some of the colleges listed in the latest article from USA Today regarding the Princeton Review top 100 value colleges of 2009. What you won’t find are local city colleges or even some inexpensive state schools that can provide a good education while saving your pocket book. I was interested in reading the article as I wanted to see if a frugal or cheap college education still existed for high school seniors entering college next year. The criteria, as you would expect for the Princeton review takes into account many factors for the study. Faculty and students voted as well as other factors including academics, cost and financial aid programs.
Top 10 Private Colleges
1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pa.)
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
3. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
4. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
5. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
6. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
7. Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.)
8. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena)
9. Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)
10. Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)
Top 10 Public Colleges
1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
2. New College of Florida (Sarasota)
3. College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, Va.)
4. State University of New York-Binghamton
5. Florida State University (Tallahassee)
6. North Carolina State University (Raleigh)
7. University of California San Diego
8. City University of New York — Hunter College (New York, N.Y.)
9. University of Georgia (Athens)
10. The College of New Jersey (Ewing)
Would you consider your college education to be a cheap or frugal investment? It would also be interesting to see a list of cheap trade schools as many high school students choose a trade rather than a 4 year degree. I guess the Princeton Review wouldn’t create a list of top HVAC or mechanic schools in the report.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I would like to also point out that in terms of cost and education, Utah public universities (and BYU) offer very good value. Depending on your program, you can be in the top 25 or 50 at a majority of universities — and pay very little. I’m not a huge fan of living in Utah (we plan to move when my husband finishes his Ph.D.), but he is in a #1 rated program for his specialty, and we aren’t paying hardly anything.
That’s a very interesting list. They should have a list of technical schools or what you call trade schools too. I wish that I would have gotten an associate’s degree from a two year University instead of a Bacholor’s. My college degree hasn’t helped me one bit in getting a decent job. These days you are better off learning a trade. Thank you for sharing! You have a very interesting blog here.
@Cascia
I’m still looking for a list of top technical trade schools. I think the list would be interesting to add here as well.
@Miranda
Is the cost of living considerably cheaper in Utah as well? I would imagine that you could stretch your dollar at a University like BYU compared to a UCLA or UCSD. For many graduate students as well, debt can be overwhelming while in college. Especially if they have additional debt carried over from an undergraduate program.