Carolina again America’s #1 best academic value among publics
| January 04, 2010 | |
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill remains the number one overall best value in U.S. public higher education, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
Carolina has ranked first on the magazine’s list of schools that “deliver strong academics at affordable prices” since 1998 when Kiplinger’s began its analysis. The newest list appears in the February issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday, Jan. 5. Kiplinger’s editors say their top 100 public campuses offer the nation’s best combination of academics and affordability.
The universities of Florida, Virginia and the College of William and Mary ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, followed by Binghamton University, the universities of Georgia, Washington, Maryland (College Park), and the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo. Other UNC system schools were N.C. State, 10th; Appalachian State, 22nd; UNC-Wilmington, 27th; UNC-Asheville, 44th; and UNC School of the Arts, 61st.
“We are pleased to again be recognized as America’s best public university for offering our students a world-class education at an affordable price,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp. “It’s a tribute to the quality of our students and faculty, as well as a commitment to accessibility that we are proud to keep.”
Kiplinger’s rankings story, “Best Values in Public Colleges,” details how some public universities are providing strong academics despite budget cuts. The story cited UNC-Chapel Hill as a leading example of campuses finding new ways to preserve quality while becoming more efficient. Thorp is quoted as saying, “We insisted that the cuts be as far away from the classroom as we could get them.”
The story mentioned the University’s hiring of Bain & Company, a global consulting firm that completed a report in July – at no cost to North Carolina taxpayers – to recommend ways for the campus to become more efficient. Now Thorp aims to make Carolina the most collaborative, well-managed university in the country. Carolina Counts, the initiative under way to help reach that goal, aims to streamline campus operations and reinvest any savings into academics.
Kiplinger’s said Carolina retained its top ranking “in part for its ability to attract and keep highflying students. Three-fourths or more of its incoming freshmen scored higher than 600 on both the verbal and math portions of the SATs, and almost all – 96.5% – stay on after freshman year.”
The story described Carolina as “an academic superstar that competes with the Ivies” and has held fast to its commitment to providing students with both need- and merit-based financial aid.
“Besides boasting top students, an outstanding faculty and a historic campus, Chapel Hill enjoys one big advantage over many other public schools: strong state support for financial aid,” Kiplinger’s reported.
Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, stressed the importance of growth in state support over the years for financial aid at Carolina, which recorded an overall 17 percent increase in applications for need-based aid for fall 2009.
Despite the increased demand, the University plans to meet the need of every student who walks through the door, Kiplinger’s quoted Thorp as saying. “We’re not going to back away from our traditions in financial aid.”
Last fall, Carolina enrolled 3,960 first-year students drawn from a record 23,047 applications – a 21 percent increase over the past five years. Nearly 80 percent of first-year students were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes; almost 44 percent were among the top 10 students in their graduating classes. The average SAT score was 1303. Nineteen percent of the first-year class was the first in their families to attend college.
Carolina meets the full need of undergraduate students who apply on time and qualify for need-based aid, with financial aid packages made up of two-thirds grants and scholarships and one-third loans and work-study. Qualified low-income undergraduates who enter as Carolina Covenant Scholars can graduate debt-free through aid packages of grants and work study, but not loans.
About two-thirds of the Kiplinger’s ranking is based on measures of academic quality including SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four- and six-year graduation rates. Then Kiplinger’s ranks each school based on cost and financial aid. Factors include total cost for in-state students (tuition, required fees, room and board, and estimated book expenses); the average cost for a student with need after subtracting non need-based grants; the average percentage of need met by aid; and the average debt a student accumulates before graduation.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, which has a circulation of about 800,000, has been providing Americans with advice on managing their money and achieving financial security since 1947.
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Note: The Kiplinger’s article, “Best Values in Public Colleges for 2009-2010” is available online.
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.
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