Princeton Review: Which Colleges Are the Most Affordable?

Just because you’re in a bind financially doesn’t mean that you have to settle your collegiate aspirations. The Princeton Review’s “2009 Best Value Colleges” report suggests that there are a number of extremely reputable colleges and universities, both private and public, working hard to help qualifying students pay for their educations.

The rating system starts with the sticker price of each college’s tuition, a figure that includes required fees and room and board, and then subtracts the average gift aid awarded to students.

Next, it puts that figure into an equation that computes “an algorithm based on the idea that bang for your buck means excellent academics, growing financial aid and/or low tuition. Simply put, it means value.”

The school’s selected in the report either offered a very affordable tuition sticker price from the get-go while still delivering a quality education, or the school made the higher cost of tuition fairly affordable to anyone accepted.

Princeton Review’s Top Five 2009 Best Value Colleges

Public:

1. University of Virginia – Charlottesville, VA
2. New College of Florida – Sarasota, FL
3. College of William & Mary – Williamsburg, VA
4. State University of New York at Binghamton -  Binghamton, NY
5. Florida State University – Tallahassee, FL

Private:

1. Swarthmore College – Swarthmore, PA
2. Harvard College – Cambridge, MA
3. Princeton University – Princeton, NJ
4. Rice University – Houston, TX
5. Yale University - New Haven, CT

Take a look at the complete lists, separated by public and private, here.

You may be surprised by some of the schools that you previously thought to be out of your budget.