100 Best College Values of 2008
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Top College Values
The best public college may be one you've never heard of, with prices so low that it's a steal even for out-of-state students.
Click through our gallery to see which little-known college received the No. 1 rank in the out-of-state category and see which other schools deliver a first-rate education without breaking the bank.
More About the Rankings
Next: No. 1 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Young adult speaking with older man in suit
No. 1: SUNY Geneseo
Out-of-State Rank: 1
In-State Rank: 6
Location: N.Y.
Enrollment: 5,358
In-State Costs: $14,966
Out-of-State Costs: $21,226
% Met by Aid: 86%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $17,000
Next: No. 2 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Johnathan Cohen
No. 2: SUNY Binghamton
Out-of-State Rank: 2
In-State Rank: 8
Location: N.Y.
Enrollment: 11,523
In-State Costs: $16,000
Out-of-State Costs: $22,260
% Met by Aid: 78%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $15,167
Next: No. 3 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Josh Wickham, UF / AP
No. 3 University of Florida
Out-of-State Rank: 3
In-State Rank: 2
Location: Fla.
Enrollment: 35,110
In-State Costs: $11,216
Out-of-State Costs: $25,801
% Met by Aid: 81%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $15,045
Next: No. 4 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Mark Dolejs, AP
No. 4: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Out-of-State Rank: 4
In-State Rank: 1
Location: N.C.
Enrollment: 17,124
In-State Costs: $13,430
Out-of-State Costs: $29,078
% Met by Aid: 100%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $14,487
Next: No. 5 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Mike Derer, AP
No. 5: College of New Jersey
Out-of-State Rank: 5
In-State Rank: 23
Location: N.J.
Enrollment: 6,094
In-State Costs: $21,549
Out-of-State Costs: $28,772
% Met by Aid: 55%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $19,459
Next: No. 6 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Steve Helber, AP
No. 6: College of William and Mary (Va.)
Out-of-State Rank: 6
In-State Rank: 4
Location: Va.
Enrollment: 5,734
In-State Costs: $17,449
Out-of-State Costs: $35,010
% Met by Aid: 84%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $14,524
Next: No. 7 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Robert Llewelyn , jupiterimages
No. 7: University of Virginia
Out-of-State Rank: 7
In-State Rank: 3
Location: Va.
Enrollment: 14,676
In-State Costs: $17,225
Out-of-State Costs: $36,475
% Met by Aid: 100%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $12,726
Next: No. 8 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Bonnie Weller, Philadelphia Inquirer | MCT
No. 8: University of Delaware
Out-of-State Rank: 8
In-State Rank: 20
Location: Del.
Enrollment: 16,296
In-State Costs: $16,898
Out-of-State Costs: $28,148
% Met by Aid: 79%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $17,200
Next: No. 9 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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No. 9: Texas A&M University
Out-of-State Rank: 9
In-State Rank: 25
Location: Texas
Enrollment: 36,580
In-State Costs: $14,971
Out-of-State Costs: $23,311
% Met by Aid: 87%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $16,027
Next: No. 10 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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L.G. Patterson, AP
No. 10: Truman State University
Out-of-State Rank: 10
In-State Rank: 26
Location: Mo.
Enrollment: 5,524
In-State Costs: $13,477
Out-of-State Costs: $18,087
% Met by Aid: 83%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $16,656
Next: No. 11 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Getty Images
No. 11: University of California, Berkeley
Out-of-State Rank: 11
In-State Rank: 18
Location: Calif.
Enrollment: 23,863
In-State Costs: $11,925
Out-of-State Costs: $43,086
% Met by Aid: 89%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $14,751
Next: No. 12 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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University of Mary Washington
No. 12: University of Mary Washington (Va.)
Out-of-State Rank: 12
In-State Rank: 14
Location: Va.
Enrollment: 4,183
In-State Costs: $13,226
Out-of-State Costs: $23,106
% Met by Aid: 56%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $12,800
Next: No. 13 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Damian Dovarganes, AP
No. 13: University of California, Los Angeles
Out-of-State Rank: 13
In-State Rank: 10
Location: Calif.
Enrollment: 25,432
In-State Costs: $20,969
Out-of-State Costs: $40,037
% Met by Aid: 81%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $15,996
Next: No. 14 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Getty Images
No. 14: University of Michigan
Out-of-State Rank: 14
In-State Rank: 16
Location: Mich.
Enrollment: 25,555
In-State Costs: $19,657
Out-of-State Costs: $40,511
% Met by Aid: 90%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $23,533
Next: No. 15 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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San Luis Obispo County Visitors, Conference Bureau
No. 15: Cal. Polytechnic State University
Out-of-State Rank: 15
In-State Rank: 41
Location: Calif.
Enrollment: 17,777
In-State Costs: $14,868
Out-of-State Costs: $23,004
% Met by Aid: 64%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $14,032
Next: No. 16 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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John Rottet, AP
No. 16: North Carolina State University
Out-of-State Rank: 16
In-State Rank: 13
Location: N.C.
Enrollment: 23,730
In-State Costs: $13,417
Out-of-State Costs: $25,615
% Met by Aid: 79%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $14,719
Next: No. 17 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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Denis Poroy, AP
No. 17: University of California, San Diego
Out-of-State Rank: 17
In-State Rank: 11
Location: Calif.
Enrollment: 21,369
In-State Costs: $19,180
Out-of-State Costs: $38,248
% Met by Aid: 82%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $15,170
Next: No. 18 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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www.imagesource.com
No. 18: University of Georgia
Out-of-State Rank: 18
In-State Rank: 7
Location: Ga.
Enrollment: 25,437
In-State Costs: $13,754
Out-of-State Costs: $28,858
% Met by Aid: 71%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $13,478
Next: No. 19 CollegeMore From Kiplinger's:
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No. 19: James Madison University (Va.)
Out-of-State Rank: 19
In-State Rank: 22
Location: Va.
Enrollment: 16,013
In-State Costs: $14,340
Out-of-State Costs: $25,060
% Met by Aid: 50%
Avg. Debt at Grad.: $11,932
· See the Complete Rankings
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Recent Comments
KpTp518 03:05:59 PM Jul 31 2008
A school that not too many people seem to know about is actually a real deal! It's called the University for Peacel.. get this, (1) It's in Costa Rica; (2) it offers post-graduate degrees which most only take a year to complete; (3) it's affiliated with the United Nations; (4) it has students and professors from all around the world in small classrooms!! I just found out about this school and I'm think about applying, the cost of tuition is very reasonable compared to other post-graduate schools. If you want to learn more, check out: www.upeace.org or www.upeaceus.org. You can thank me later ;)
Innavon 07:45:42 AM Jul 14 2008
Although college ranking systems are debatable, and at times inexplicable, these exercises provide a very valuable service. Without these rankings and surveys, the same two dozen most famous institutions would dominate all discussion of college admissions year after year. These ratings, which survey the records of thousands of institutions, give schools an opportunity to make their cases to the national market and, in turn, provide prospective students and their families with a wealth information about the range of options open to them.I do not really know if #1 ranked Geneseo (where I have taught for 15 years) is genuinely better than the schools ranked #2 or #3 or #10. But I do know that our students and their families, in overwhelming numbers, believe that it more than lives up to its reputation as a newly-emerging national public liberal arts college. That's worth a headline somewhere.
Bobny39m 11:24:12 PM Mar 21 2008
we've been impressed with President De Fleur and her active involvement that sets a tone of improvement that the whole staff seems to embrace. His biggest complaint is the food is average, but other than the Culinary Institute near us, that's common. He has not had any worries going around the town, so.. so far so good. Geneseo was just too far away for us which makes me want to say, use this ranking as a resource that might help you find a good match for you. There are so many factors in choosing the "right" college for your student, cost, quality of education, school spirit, curriculums offered,coop/intern opportunities, distance from home etc... I'm just glad that with the sky high cost of college, we have some excellent state schools that can compete with the big name private schools and still allow parents to have a shot at retiring and our students not saddled with unbearable debt when they are trying to start their adult lives. Best Luck to all of you in your search !!!
Bobny39m 11:22:58 PM Mar 21 2008
Back in 1981, my wife and I put ourselves through a community college and then went to Albany State (SUNYA), because it was close to home and all we could afford since our parents weren't able to help us. We worked hard, got a good education which allowed us to get good professional jobs with IBM. Because of this, we were able to offer our two kids the chance to go anywhere they wanted to college. Our daughter chose Pratt MWP, a fairly expensive private school which she loves and our son who had top Test scores and grades surprised us. He chose Binghamton over RPI, Geneseo, RIT and other top schools that accepted him and offered great scholarships. His reason .... he liked the "feel" of the campus, the students seemed truly happy and in our school visits, the heads of the Computer science department at Binghamton were great to talk with. His freshman experience has been very good. It is a competitive school that has a positive upbeat atmosphere and we've been impressed with Pres
CharleneJoy2008 11:20:28 AM Mar 21 2008
By the way, I'm out of state (Puerto Rico) and my high school GPA is 3.5, and I got 1820 in the SAT...and I got in UNC!! You don't have to be top of your class to get in. You just need something of value in the app to show them why you should be part of their university. For example, in my case...I've done a lot of different things in my high school life. I founded a reading club, I am currently the editor of my high school's literary magazine, and also have held important positions in science clubs and blablabla a lot of other stuff. I also have experience in the arts, such as music, dance, painting..blabla... POINT IS: you DON'T have to be a straight "A" student if you have something else to back it up!!!!!!
CharleneJoy2008 11:10:13 AM Mar 21 2008
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I adore my future home.
JimmyDoes12s 08:35:39 AM Mar 19 2008
dood you probally took so long to write that let the guy have his moment idiot
Syl953 12:23:01 AM Mar 19 2008
To DLong64916 - for someone who has a bachelor's, master's and working on a PhD, your writing leaves a lot to be desired. Watch your spelling and grammar. You're gonna need lots of help with your dissertation.
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