11/5/2009

Rice remains among top five best-value schools

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Rice University is No. 4 -- same as last year -- on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's list of 100 best values in private colleges for 2009-10.

The list features schools that offer both exceptional education and economic value.

California Institute of Technology topped the list, followed by Princeton and Yale. Harvard ranked fifth. The only other private university in Texas besides Rice that made the list was Trinity, which ranked 31st.

To measure academic quality, Kiplinger's takes into account the percentage of applicants offered admission; percentage of the 2008-09 freshman class that scored 600 or higher on the verbal and math SATs or 24 or higher on the ACT; student-faculty ratio; and percentage of freshmen who earned a bachelor's degree within four or five years.

Financial measures include total cost for academic year 2009-10 (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated book expenses); cost after need-based aid is subtracted; percentage of the average financial aid package that came from grants or scholarships; cost after non-need-based aid is subtracted; percentage of all undergraduates without need who received non-need-based aid; and average debt at graduation (based on graduates who took out education loans).

'Best quality of life'
Find out why Rice University topped the Princeton Review's list for 'best quality of life' Who knew
Who knew you could get more Rice than you pay for? Admission
Want to receive a world-class education at a bargain price? Apply to Rice "The nation's troubled economy during the past year created difficult financial circumstances for many families, and it was important to us that a Rice education remain accessible and affordable to students from all walks of life," Rice President David Leebron said. “And, even as we are increasing the size of our study population, we are maintaining the intellectual standards that make Rice such a challenging and rewarding academic environment.”

For the freshman class entering Rice this fall, the university increased its no-loan threshold to families with incomes of up to $80,000. Rice also lowered the cap on loans in financial-aid packages for need-eligible incoming freshmen to $10,000 for their four undergraduate years.

Rice admits students regardless of their ability to pay and provides financial-aid packages that meet 100 percent of their demonstrated need. Tuition at Rice tends to be significantly lower than that of its private peer universities.

In addition to being No. 4 on Kiplinger's previous ranking of best values, Rice was No. 4 in Princeton Review's "Best Value Colleges for 2009" and a "best-buy school" in the 2010 edition of "Fiske Guide to Colleges." Princeton Review also ranked Rice No. 1 nationally for "best quality of life" in its 2010 edition of "The Best 371 Colleges."

For the complete list of Kiplinger's rankings, go to http://www.kiplinger.com/reports/best-college-values/.