Contact: Joe Farris
Kiplinger's magazine again is ranking Mississippi State among its best values in U.S. public universities and colleges.
The consumer finance magazine ranks the top 100 schools according to their value for in- and out-of-state students, taking into account both cost and quality measures. MSU is rated 29th best value in the country for out-of-state students and 55th best value for in.state students.
Kiplinger's says the rankings list in the newly published November edition "shines a spotlight on schools that combine great academics with reasonable costs."
The magazine collected data on more than 500 colleges and universities before cutting the list to the 200 with the highest proportion of freshmen scoring above 24 on the American College Test or the equivalent on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The top 100 were determined by other measures of academic quality, including faculty credentials, graduation rates, and spending on instruction and libraries.
The final "values" rankings take into account costs for tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies, along with the availability of scholarships and financial aid and debt accumulated by graduates. The magazine calculated the typical annual in-state cost of attending Mississippi State, after taking financial aid into account, at $8,174.
Overall, two-thirds of the final ranking is determined by quality measures and one-third by cost considerations, Kiplinger's said.
Also making the top 100 ranking in the Magnolia State are Mississippi University for Women and University of Mississippi.
Kiplinger's top five values for in-state students were the universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the College of William and Mary.
Kiplinger's articles and rankings on public college best values are on line at http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/.