2016 Best College Value rankings of Georgia institutions (Overall college value category):
23 - Emory University
92 - University of Georgia
120 - Georgia Tech
146 - Agnes Scott College
227 - Mercer University
266 - Spelman College
290 - Georgia College and State University
Source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 2016 “Best College Values” rankings
Emory University has received another set of national honors, this time ranking among the country’s best value colleges, according to the newest set of college rankings from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Emory ranked 23rd among the top 50 overall college values, according to the 2016 "Best College Value" rankings from the business and personal finance publisher. The four-year university, with a total yearly cost of $60,668 according to Kiplinger's, was the highest overall ranked Georgia institution. Emory also ranked 1oth among the top 10 private university values.
Virginia’s Washington and Lee University claimed the top spot for best overall college value, followed by Princeton and Harvard universities, and Davidson and Swarthmore colleges. The University of Georgia, ranked 92nd, was the only other Georgia school to place in the top 100 overall institutions.
Among public schools, UGA ranked 12th and Georgia Tech ranked 23rd for in-state students. For out-of-state students, the rankings dropped slightly to 18th and 24th, respectively.
“We start with a universe of 1,200 schools, so each school on our rankings, from number 1 to number 300, is a best value,” said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. “Families can use the list as a starting point and then tailor it to each student’s preference for such things as size, location, campus culture and major.”
Kiplinger, which began its college rankings in 1998, combines public schools, private universities and private liberal arts colleges into a single, comprehensive list. Kiplinger also ranks the top 100 best values in each category. Schools are ranked based on values including admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation.
The average debt for Emory's undergraduate class was listed at $24,741, almost $2,000 less than the state average of $26,518. Emory's four-year graduation rate was 84 percent, with a highly selective admission rate of 27 percent. The nine institutions ranked higher than Emory are even more selective, with admission rates of 15 percent or less.
The full ranking are available online at Kiplinger.com/links/college, and will appear in the February issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, which hits newsstands in January.
Emory was also the highest ranked Georgia school in the 2016 U.S. News and World Report annual and highly touted best-college rankings. In those rankings, Emory retained its 21st-place ranking among the nation's top universities, tied with Georgetown University.
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