Pitt Ranked a Best Value in Public Higher Education

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh ranks as the top value in Pennsylvania for in-state students in The Kiplinger 100: Best Values in Public Colleges, 2011-12, published in the February 2012 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, currently available on newsstands. In addition, Kiplinger’s ranks Pitt as the nation’s 15th-best value for out-of-state students and the country’s 29th-best value for in-state students. The rankings can be accessed online at www.kiplinger.com/links/college.

Kiplinger’s, which has been producing its Best Values in Public Colleges rankings since 1998, has called the top 100 institutions in its listing “four-year institutions that deliver a stellar education at an affordable price.” 

According to Kiplinger’s, its editors start with data from more than 500 public four-year schools and then narrow the list to about 120 schools “based on measures of academic quality, including SAT or ACT scores, admissions and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four- and six-year graduation rates. The editors then rank each school based on cost and financial aid. Academic quality carries more weight than costs.” This year, Kiplinger’s states that it “revamped the rankings” to give additional weight “to academic value, such as the percentage of students who return for sophomore year and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include low sticker prices, abundant financial aid, and low average debt at graduation.”

“As states cut funding for higher education and tuition continues to climb, the word ‘value’ becomes more significant than ever,” says Jane Bennett Clark, senior editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “This year’s top 100 public schools deliver strong academics at reasonable prices. We applaud these institutions for tightening their belts without compromising quality.”

###

12/22/11/mab/lks/jdh