Value Colleges Releases Top 50 Best Value Colleges for 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Value Colleges (www.valuecolleges.com), an independent online guide to the best values in undergraduate and graduate education, is pleased to share their Top 50 Best Value Colleges for 2017 at http://www.valuecolleges.com/rankings/best-value-colleges-2017/.

Choosing a college is more complex today than it has ever been, with a slew of options available to prospective students, including for-profits, community colleges, huge public research universities, small liberal arts colleges, online programs, and so forth. For most students, a more traditional on-campus experience is most appealing. But how do prospective students sift through the options to make a choice? Value Colleges surveys the wide range of colleges and universities in the U.S., using the data available from the College Scorecard to find the best accredited and reputable programs that promise students a worthwhile return on their investment.

Value Colleges ranks the top 50 online colleges using the following criteria: ROI (according to Scorecard data); cost (according to IPEDS); and reputation (according to U.S. News & World Report).

The top three Best Values for 2017 are: 1) University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida; 2) Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; and 3) Baruch College (CUNY) in New York, New York. Value Colleges would like to congratulate the top three, as well as all of the superior values in the top 50!

The full list, in alphabetical order, is as follows:

Appalachian State University - Boone, NC

Baruch College (CUNY) - New York, NY

Brigham Young University - Provo, UT

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona - Pomona, CA

California State University Long Beach - Long Beach, CA

The Citadel - Charleston, SC

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach, FL

Florida State University - Tallahassee, FL

Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta, GA

Iowa State University - Ames, IA

James Madison University - Harrisonburg, VA

North Carolina State University - Raleigh, NC

Pomona College - Claremont, CA

Princeton University - Princeton, NJ

Purdue University - West Lafayette, IN

Rice University - Houston, TX

Salisbury University - Salisbury, MD

San Diego State University - San Diego, CA

Sonoma State University - Rohnert Park, CA

St. Francis College - Brooklyn Heights, NY

Stanford University - Stanford, CA

Stony Brook University (SUNY) - Stony Brook, NY

SUNY Oneonta - Oneonta, NY

SUNY Plattsburgh - Plattsburgh, NY

Towson University - Towson, MD

Truman State University - Kirksville, MO

UCLA - Los Angeles, CA

University at Buffalo (SUNY) - Buffalo, NY

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, CA

University of California, Davis - Davis, CA

University of California, Irvine - Irvine, CA

University of California, San Diego - San Diego, CA

University of Delaware - Newark, DE

University of Florida - Gainesville, FL

University of Iowa - Iowa City, IA

University of Mary Washington - Fredericksburg, VA

University of Maryland - College Park, MD

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC

University of North Carolina Wilmington - Wilmington, NC

University of Northern Iowa - Cedar Falls, IA

University of Oklahoma - Norman, OK

University of Texas at Austin - Austin, TX

University of Utah - Salt Lake City, UT

University of Virginia - Charlottesville, VA

University of Washington - Seattle, WA

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - Eau Claire, WI

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse - La Crosse, WI

Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN

Western Washington University - Bellingham, WA

Site editor Carrie Sealey-Morris says that many students choose a college without asking themselves which is the best investment. "It is an American cultural bias," says Sealey-Morris, "to see college as a valuable end in itself, but a degree is only worth the educational quality and opportunities it provides. An awareness of objective value is important for all prospective students, but especially for first-generation students who might be coming from a disadvantaged background or paying their own way through school without family support. Value Colleges has precisely these students in mind when creating its Best Value rankings."

Value Colleges is unbiased, ranking degree programs, providing guides for the complex financial and professional questions of college students, and offering honest facts about the potential and pitfalls of a college education.

Contact:
Carrie Sealey-Morris
Editor
Value Colleges
Email 
https://www.facebook.com/valuecolleges 
(512) 710-9901

SOURCE Value Colleges