The Princeton Review Has Posted Its "Best Value Colleges for 2025" Report: Top Public and Private Colleges Ranked in Seven Categories

• Georgia Tech #1 Best Value Public College
• Princeton U #1 Best Value Private College

NEW YORK, June 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review^® — known for its education services and school rankings in dozens of categories — today posted its 21st annual report naming the nation's "Best Value Colleges."  

Primarily based on the company's 2024–2025 survey of administrators at more than 650 institutions across the U.S., The Princeton Review's Best Value Colleges for 2025 report names 209 schools the company designates as "Best Values." Of the 209 schools, 68 are public institutions, and 141 are private institutions. Nine of the schools are tuition-free.

The criteria for the school selections broadly cover three subjects: academics, affordability, and career outcomes for graduates. More than 40 data points from the survey of administrators as well as surveys of students and of alumni were analyzed in the selection process. Information about the surveys, methodology and criteria is below.

The report features seven categories of ranking lists, each one separately reporting the top public and the top private colleges in the category.

The main category, "Best Value Colleges Overall," names the top 50 public and top 50 private institutions. Georgia Institute of Technology is the #1 Public Best Value College (it was also #1 on this list last year). Princeton University is the #1 Private Best Value College.

The six other categories each name the top 20 public and top 20 private institutions for various distinctions from financial aid awards to career placement services.

Note: The Princeton Review does not rank the schools on a combined list from 1 to 209.

The Princeton Review's Seven Categories of "Best Value Colleges for 2025" Lists and the #1 Public and #1 Private Colleges on the Lists

• Best Value Colleges Overall
   #1 Public: Georgia Institute of Technology
   #1 Private: Princeton University (NJ)

• Best Value Colleges for Financial Aid
   #1 Public: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
   #1 Private: Williams College (MA)  

• Best Value Colleges for Career Placement
   #1 Public: Georgia Institute of Technology
   #1 Private: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Best Value Colleges for Internships
   #1 Public: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
   #1 Private: Northeastern University (MA)

• Best Value Colleges for Alumni Networks
   #1 Public: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
   #1 Private: St Lawrence University (NY)

• Best Value Colleges for Making an Impact
   #1 Public: University of Vermont
   #1 Private: Pitzer College (CA)

• Best Value Colleges for Students with No Demonstrated Need
   #1 Public: Georgia Institute of Technology
   #1 Private: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"The schools on our 'Best Value Colleges' lists this year are truly exceptional," said Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief of The Princeton Review. "They offer outstanding academics and excellent career services. They also demonstrate extraordinary commitments to affordability via generous financial aid and/or comparatively low sticker prices. We commend them for all that they do to help students afford to attend them and we recommend them highly to college applicants." Franek noted an encouraging statistic for students considering the schools: "A high percentage (41%) of the colleges that made our lists this year admit 50% or more of their applicants."

Among the top 50 public "Best Value Colleges for 2025"

• The average grant to students with need is $15,639.
• The median starting salary of graduates is $74,360.
• The mid-career salary of graduates is $133,634.

Among the 50 private "Best Value Colleges for 2025"     

• The average grant to students with need is $60,549.
• The median starting salary of graduates is $86,528.
• The mid-career salary of graduates is $157,692.

On a related subject, Frank cited findings of the company's College Hopes & Worries 2025 Survey that offer perspectives on the outlook of families navigating college applications and decisions.

"Among the nearly 10,000 college applicants and their parents we surveyed, 99% said 'Yes' to our question 'Do you think college is 'worth it'?' he said. "However, their concerns about college affordability loom large," he added, noting that "98% of our survey respondents said financial aid would be necessary to pay for college, and of that cohort 77% gauged their level of need as 'very' or 'extremely' necessary." 

About the Best Value Colleges School Selections and Ranking Lists Methodology

To curate its Best Value Colleges for 2025 report, The Princeton Review analyzed data from its surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2024–2025 on school academics, cost/financial aid, and career services, as well as on student debt and graduation rates. The company also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the schools (a practice that has informed nearly all of The Princeton Review school rankings since 1992), and data from PayScale.com's surveys of alumni of the schools about their starting- and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction. Various data points from the surveys are used for the project's seven categories of ranking lists. More than 40 data points were used to tally The Princeton Review's ROI (Return on Investment) ratings for the schools. That rating score is the primary basis for the company's selection of schools it designates as "Best Value Colleges." Information on the methodology, school selection, criteria for the ROI rating and the basis for the seven ranking lists is at https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/best-value-colleges/methodology.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; a line of more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. The company's Tutor.com brand, now in its 25th year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 28 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review, headquartered in New York, NY, is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview).

WEBSITE: www.princetonreview.com

SOURCE The Princeton Review