College
2008 Best Values in Private Colleges
Our rankings for the best private colleges and universities spotlight schools with strong academics, attractive prices and generous financial aid.
By Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Associate Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, April 2008
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For kids heading off to Yale, Harvard or one of the nation's other elite institutions, the news couldn't be better. Not only will they get a great education with first-class bragging rights, but they also stand a good chance of paying less than they would have paid in-state at a public university.
RELATED LINKS | |||
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The Kiplinger 100: See the Rankings | ||
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2008-2009 Best Values in Public Colleges | ||
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Everything You Need to Know About College Aid | ||
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Paying for College | ||
You read that right. Institutions including the Ivies, Caltech, Williams and Swarthmore have lately announced major changes in their financial-aid policies. Among the changes: replacing loans with grants, offering full rides to families at higher income levels and bestowing discounts on families earning well into six figures. At Harvard and Yale, parents earning as much as $180,000 can be almost assured of getting a hefty break on the bill in the next academic year.
All of which brings us to the $64,000 (or more) question: What about the 99.5% of families whose kids won't be at the peak of the academic mountain? That's no small issue as colleges and universities try to decide whether to allocate all of their money to meeting the needs of students who qualify for financial aid or to use some of their funds to attract good students and a diverse student body. Whereas schools with hefty endowments have the luxury -- and the incentive, owing to pressure from Congress -- to dig deep and spread wide, less wealthy schools "face the prospect of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul," says Don Crewell, financial-aid director at Caltech.
Meanwhile, pity the families who pay full price for a private education. The cost of a year at a four-year private college rose almost 6% in 2007-08, to an average of $32,307, and topped out at a staggering $50,000-plus. Many parents and students pay every penny, according to the College Board, including those who miss out "because they are unaware of the sources and amounts of student aid available."
That's where Kiplinger's 2008 rankings of private colleges and universities come in. Topped by Caltech among universities and Swarthmore among liberal arts colleges, our exclusive rankings showcase a range of schools with strong academics, generous financial-aid policies and, in some cases, a decent price to begin with.
The rankings also show how your student matches up with incoming freshmen at the schools in our top 100. And we go behind the scenes at two other schools: Princeton, a venerable institution with a groundbreaking financial-aid policy, and Lafayette College, in Easton, Pa., a school that aims high and takes some of its cues -- but not all of them -- from the Ivies.
Tip of the top
If your child excels in math or science and craves close contact with professors, look no further than Caltech, at the top of our university rankings for the second year in a row. This tiny research institution, on a jewel-like campus in Pasadena, offers a three-to-one student-faculty ratio, the lowest among all major universities. Caltech students work side-by-side with Nobel laureates and enjoy occasional lectures by physicist Stephen Hawking, who until recently wintered in a rose-covered cottage on campus.
And students, who number fewer than 1,000, learn from one another, says president Jean-Lou Chameau. "Simply because of our size, Caltech gives a unique opportunity to be among people who are all extremely gifted." How gifted? Start with this year's freshman class, all of whom scored above 700 on the math SAT.
Like many of its counterparts, Caltech recently announced that it will replace loans with grants, piggybacking on an already-generous financial-aid policy that has kept average student debt at graduation to $5,156, about one-fourth of the national average. Starting in fall 2008, students whose families earn $60,000 or less a year will receive grants and work-study to meet their financial need.
Reader Comments (13)
Posted by: Kelly O. at 03/18/2008 07:34:47 AM
Great article...my son is a Junior in a private school in So. Carolina, and we are starting to look at schools. His SAT scores were 1980. Private school has taken alot out of us, we are middle working class! Will have to do loans, etc for college!
Posted by: Arthur B. Spector at 03/18/2008 08:42:25 AM
Great information ...very helpful. The information for Columbia might be modified to reflect Columbia College's admit rate last year which was 8.9% - you have the College's undergraduate numbers correct ..your admit rate includes the engineering school which is a superb school but has a different admit rate. In fact, Columbia College, Columbia's liberal arts college had the lowest admit rate in the Ivies last year or was tied with Harvard. Thanks so much.
Posted by: Elizabeth Miller at 03/18/2008 11:15:47 AM
Look at the financial aid that Denison Univeristy (Granville OH) gives- almost 90% of the students get some kind of aid. It does a VERy good job.
Posted by: D. Joseph at 03/20/2008 12:32:30 PM
I found this article to be useless if you don't qualify for needs-based aid or the Ivy League.
Posted by: virginia at 04/03/2008 07:48:45 PM
THE RISING COSTS OF TUITION HAVE FORCED MANY FAMILIES TO DIP INTO THEIR RETIREMENT SAVINGS TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL. THOSE WHO DON'T WANT TO DO THIS AND DON'T QUALIFY FOR NEED BASED AID HAVE HAD TO LIMIT THIER CHILDS OPTIONS, NO MATTER HOW QUALIFIED THEY ARE...I BELIEVE IN DIVERSITY, DOESN'T THAT INCLUDE EVERYONE?
Posted by: MATILDA at 05/05/2008 12:10:19 PM
My daughter has been told all 12 years that she can go ANYWHERE no matter her financial status... well B.S. She was accepted into OHIO STATE and won't be ablel to attend because of MONEY !!!! We can't afford gas for week and yet are not qualified for Need Based Scholarships!!!!!!!
Posted by: Henry Silver at 05/15/2008 10:39:34 AM
D. Joseph is right. If your kid scores 2350+ on the SAT, has a 4.0, and you live near the poverty line, no worries. Otherwise, the kid graduates with $100,000+ in debt, after your pockets have been turned inside out. On top of that, the better public schools are so selective as to exclude most of their residents.
Posted by: Jack at 05/16/2008 07:02:20 AM
This article is nice. Rising tuition fee in private schools is a cause of worry for parents.
Posted by: Penny at 07/01/2008 07:16:43 PM
My son was a 3.7 (GAP) student competing with people over 4.0. I'm so glad we listened to his guidance counseler and applied to private colleges as well as state schools. He is excelling at Xavier and we're paying thousands less than we would have for the state schools. Every private school he applied to offered scholarship and need based aid. The state schools offered a couple thousand scholarships but no need based. Thank God for alumni at private colleges!
Posted by: Alek at 10/23/2008 10:13:04 AM
What a system - enrich the poor, put the middle class in the poor house, and keep the rich wealthy. Gotta love America!
Posted by: Barry at 10/28/2008 10:50:31 PM
You can't beat free. So if you have an interest in science, architecture, or art, you should apply to The Cooper Union, which is completely tuition-free. Extremely competitive, too.
Posted by: high school at 11/15/2008 01:05:12 AM
Many private schools prepare their students for reputed universities. These schools provide good education that helps them in the college and in the personal life. Private high schools also encourage students to participate in games.
Posted by: Lyndsay at 12/10/2008 10:24:05 AM
Cooper Union is not free. It's all in the fine print.