The Princeton Review And USA TODAY Present The Princeton Review's List: "Best Value Colleges For 2014"

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review today released its annual list of the nation's "Best Value Colleges" and its companion book, The Best Value Colleges: The 150 Best-Buy Schools and What It Takes to Get In (Random House / Princeton Review, 2014 Edition, January 28, $21.99).

The 2014 list names 150 colleges – 75 public and 75 private – the education services company identifies as "Best Values" based on its surveys of 2,000 undergraduate institutions in 2012-13 concerning their academics, cost and financial aid awards.

The company reports the top 10 schools in each group – public and private – in ranked order.   The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the #1 "Best Value Public College" for 2014 while Williams College is the #1 "Best Value Private College." (Top 10 lists follow.) The Princeton Review lists the remaining 65 colleges in each group in alphabetical order. 

For this project, which The Princeton Review originated in 2004 and has reported in cooperation with USA TODAY since 2009, the company selects schools based on its analysis of more than 30 data points with cost data reflecting school-reported figures for 2013-14. The company also factors in data it collected over the past three academic years from its surveys of students about their satisfaction with their financial aid awards and academic experiences at their schools.

The Princeton Review's "Best Value Colleges" list appears in two free online resources as well as its companion book released today. The company posted its list with profiles of the schools at http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges.

USA TODAY posted the list in an exclusive interactive database at a dedicated area on its site at http://bestvaluecolleges.usatoday.com. There, users can access information about each college and sort the list in useful ways including by state, tuition, enrollment, and average freshman grant.

The Princeton Review's book – The Best Value Colleges: The 150 Best-Buy Schools and What It Takes to Get In – has detailed profiles of the colleges with advice for gaining admission and financial aid from the schools. The book also includes profiles of nine tuition-free colleges.

The Princeton Review's Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2014 are:

1. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
2. New College of Florida (Sarasota)
3. University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
4. North Carolina State University (Raleigh)
5. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
6. University of California – Los Angeles
7. University of Florida (Gainesville) 
8. The College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA)
9. Truman State University (Kirksville, MO)
10. State University of New York at Binghamton 

The Princeton Review's Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2014 are:

1. Williams College (Williamstown, MA)
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, MA)
3. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA)
4. Yale University (New Haven, CT)
5. Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
6. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (New York, NY)
7. Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
9. Amherst College (Amherst, MA)
10. Pomona College (Claremont, CA)

Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's Senior VP/Publisher and lead author, The Best Value Colleges, commented: "We salute these colleges for their outstanding academics and affordability either via comparatively low sticker prices or generous financial aid awards to students with need—or both." 

At 65% (97) of the 150 "Best Value" colleges, the average grant to freshmen with need is more than $10,000. Among the top 10 private "Best Value" colleges, the average cost of attendance is about $17,000 after deducting the average grant to students with need. Among the top 10 public "Best Value" colleges, the average cost for in-state students is about $8,400 after deducting the average grant awarded to students with need.

The Best Value Colleges book profiles have information on each school's financial aid offerings, cost, application requirements, average SAT/ACT scores of enrolled freshmen, acceptance rate, graduation rate, and graduates' loan debt. The book is one of 150 Princeton Review titles published by Random House. Others include The Best 378 Colleges, known for its college rankings in 62 categories (http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings), and Paying For College Without Going Broke.

The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.

About The Princeton Review

Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review (http://www.princetonreview.com) is a privately held education services company headquartered in Framingham, MA. The Company has long been a leader in helping students achieve their education and career goals through its test preparation services, tutoring and admissions resources, online courses, and more than 150 print and digital books published by Random House LLC. The Princeton Review delivers its programs via a network of more than 5,000 teachers and tutors in the U.S.A., Canada, and international franchises. The Company also partners with schools and guidance counselors worldwide to provide students with college readiness, test preparation and career planning services.  

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. Through its unique visual storytelling, USA TODAY delivers high-quality and engaging content across print, digital, social and video platforms. An innovator of news and information, USA TODAY reflects the pulse of the nation and serves as the host of the American conversation — today, tomorrow and for decades to follow. USA TODAY reaches a monthly audience of more than 44 million. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

WEBSITES
http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges
http://bestvaluecolleges.usatoday.com

SOURCE The Princeton Review