The Princeton Review and USA TODAY Present 'The Princeton Review's 100 Best Value Colleges for 2011'

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review (Nasdaq: REVU), one of America's best known education services companies, has — for the third consecutive year — teamed up with USA TODAY, one of the nation's most widely read newspapers, to present a list of America's 100 "Best Value Colleges" of the year.  

Tallied by The Princeton Review, the 2011 list which features 50 public and 50 private colleges names the University of Virginia (Charlottesville) as the #1 "Best Value Public College" and Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA) the #1 "Best Value Private College."

In each group, public and private, the list identifies 10 top schools (see below) in rank order and the remaining 40 in alphabetical order, unranked. The complete lists posted today on the Princeton Review website at http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges.aspx and USA TODAY website at http://bestvaluecolleges.usatoday.com

The Princeton Review chose the schools as its "Best Value Colleges" for 2011 based on criteria covering academics, cost of attendance, and financial aid. The methodology examined more than 30 factors using data from the Company's surveys of administrators and students at 650 colleges with strong academic programs.  Most of the data analyzed came from surveys conducted from fall 2009 through fall 2010: all cost and financial aid data came from fall 2010 surveys.

Said Robert Franek, Princeton Review Senior VP/Publishing, "While a college education is undeniably a valuable investment, paying for college is challenging for most parents.  Among the 12,000 respondents to our 2010  'College Hopes & Worries Survey' of college applicants and their parents, 86% told us financial aid would be 'very necessary' to foot the bill.  For them and for all families seeking academically outstanding colleges that have been exceptional at meeting their students' needs for financial aid, we're pleased to have teamed up with USA TODAY to identify and recommend these 100 institutions as 'Best Value' colleges."

The Princeton Review "Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2011" are:

1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA)

2. New College of Florida (Sarasota FL)

3. University of Florida (Gainesville FL)

4. State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton NY)

5. University of Georgia (Athens GA)

6. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor MI)

7. College of William and Mary (Williamsburg VA)

8. University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill NC)

9. North Carolina State University (Raleigh NC)

10. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York NY)

The Princeton Review "Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2011" are:

1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)

2. Duke University (Durham NC)

3. Princeton University (Princeton NJ)

4. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA)

5. Harvard College (Cambridge MA)

6. Wesleyan University (Middletown CT)

7. Williams College (Williamstown MA)

8. Vanderbilt University (Nashville TN)

9. Wesleyan College (Macon GA)

10. Yale University (New Haven CT)

The Princeton Review's and USA TODAY's websites post the full "100 Best Value Colleges" list with information about the colleges. At USA TODAY's website, users can click on an interactive map and access a database with stats and facts about each school including its cost of attendance, financial aid, and enrollment — plus a report on why The Princeton Review named it a "Best Value" college.

The Princeton Review previously reported annual "Best Value Colleges" lists on its website and in its book, America's Best Value Colleges, published from 2004 to 2007. The Company is also known for its college, business, and law school rankings in several categories it reports on its website and in its books. They too are based on the Company's surveys of higher education institutions and of students attending the schools.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review (Nasdaq: REVU) has been a pioneer and leader in helping students achieve their higher education goals for more than 28 years through college and graduate school test preparation and private tutoring. With more than 165 print and digital publications and a free website, www.PrincetonReview.com, the Company provides students and their parents with the resources to research, apply to, prepare for, and learn how to pay for higher education. The Princeton Review partners with schools and guidance counselors throughout the U.S. to assist in college readiness, test preparation and career planning services, helping more students pursue postsecondary education. The Company also owns and operates Penn Foster Education Group, a global leader in online education. Penn Foster provides career-focused degree and vocational programs in the fields of allied health, business, technology, education, and select trades through the Penn Foster High School and Penn Foster Career School (www.pennfoster.edu). The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University and not a magazine.

About USA TODAY

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than seven million downloads on mobile devices.  The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

WEBSITES:

http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges.aspx

http://bestvaluecolleges.usatoday.com

SOURCE The Princeton Review