MyCoolCareer.com | COOLNEWS 02.13.2004

The Basics
The 100 best values in private colleges
By Brian Knestout, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

We scoured 1,300 private schools to find those that combine academic excellence with generous aid packages and lower total costs. Here are the best bets.

OK, it's not really stop-the-presses news that private colleges cost an arm and a leg. And it's no surprise that prices keep going up -- about 6% for the 2003 school year, on average, says the College Board. But there is a hopeful development: Thanks to a little-noticed trend in financial aid, most students at private colleges do not actually pay the full four-year fare.

Colleges have always tried to help needy students. But more are offering "need blind" aid: merit-based tuition discounts that take the form of grants and scholarships, are based on a student's academic record or character, and are funded by endowments.

In November, we looked at the best deals for in- and out-of-state students at the nation's public colleges and universities (see "The 100 best values in public colleges"). Now, we've put more than 1,300 private schools under our microscope to determine which combine academic excellence with generous aid packages and lower total costs.

The 100 best values in private colleges

Rank		State	Enroll.	Quality rank	Total costs	Cost after need-based aid	Cost after non-need-based aid*	Average debt	Cost rank
1	California Institute of Technology	CA	939	10	$32,682	$10,981	$18,553	$10,244	4
2	Rice University	TX	2,787	19	$28,350	$14,779	$22,418	$12,705	5
3	Williams College	MA	1,985	1	$36,550	$14,737	$33,251	$12,316	26
4	Swarthmore College	PA	1,479	4	$38,676	$17,386	$11,404	$12,759	21
5	Amherst College	MA	1,618	5	$38,492	$14,453	$33,411	$11,544	38
6	Webb Institute	NY	67	39	$8,079#	$5,579	$8,079	$5,700	1
7	Yale University	CT	5,339	3	$38,432	$15,729	$38,432	$19,228	53
8	Washington and Lee University	VA	1,750	30	$30,225	$15,452	$22,063	$15,634	9
9	Harvard University	MA	6,637	8	$38,831	$17,456	$33,201	$10,465	46
10	Stanford University	CA	7,360	6	$38,875	$17,746	$33,709	$15,782	62
11	Princeton University	NJ	4,779	7	$40,169	$18,325	$40,169	$12,000	59
12	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	4,178	2	$39,213	$19,609	$30,337	$22,855	82
13	Pomona College	CA	1,551	21	$38,130	$17,411	$35,702	$15,600	43
14	Emory University	GA	6,302	15	$37,272	$19,657	$23,615	$17,675	54
15	Columbia University	NY	4,109	13	$39,493	$17,778	$39,493	$15,331	65
16	Duke University	NC	6,206	11	$40,080	$19,996	$26,599	$20,025	68
17	Davidson College	NC	1,645	27	$34,706	$21,455	$28,630	$13,697	37
18	Wellesley College	MA	2,300	32	$37,419	$17,526	$32,919	$15,697	35
19	Vassar College	NY	2,472	22	$37,870	$19,404	$34,669	$17,170	64
20	Haverford College	PA	1,105	20	$38,928	$17,826	$38,928	$15,253	66
21	Northwestern University	IL	7,946	17	$38,817	$20,376	$36,538	$14,551	74
22	Bowdoin College	ME	1,657	25	$38,663	$17,773	$37,663	$15,307	58
23	University of Pennsylvania	PA	9,742	9	$39,040	$20,596	$39,040	$20,247	93
24	Johns Hopkins University	MD	4,112	29	$39,188	$19,142	$24,206	$13,600	48
25	Cooper Union	NY	917	61	$14,652	$11,167	$14,653	$9,250	3
26	Washington University	MO	7,219	16	$39,253	$20,700	$30,581	NA	87
27	Dartmouth College	NH	4,118	12	$38,898	$19,546	$36,482	NA	92
28	Claremont McKenna College	CA	1,024	37	$37,730	$17,988	$31,570	$16,914	41
29	University of Notre Dame	IN	8,261	36	$35,392	$18,011	$26,304	$25,595	45
30	Colgate University	NY	2,827	31	$38,820	$18,856	$38,820	$12,984	67
31	The Colorado College	CO	1,902	57	$35,275	$16,516	$19,645	$13,500	10
32	University of Richmond	VA	2,998	48	$31,679	$17,588	$21,227	$16,115	12
33	Georgetown University	DC	6,332	14	$39,182	$24,382	$32,832	$20,000	97
34	Brown University	RI	6,030	23	$40,248	$20,838	$37,243	$21,700	91
35	Carleton College	MN	1,932	34	$35,288	$21,677	$32,968	$14,543	56
36	Lafayette College	PA	2,300	47	$35,713	$15,147	$25,050	$17,380	19
37	Middlebury College	VT	2,297	18	$46,682	$25,438	$46,682	$21,751	98
38	Grinnell College	IA	1,485	55	$31,460	$16,585	$23,312	$13,854	17
39	Illinois Wesleyan University	IL	2,107	44	$30,780	$18,858	$23,095	$17,722	27
40	Bates College	ME	1,738	28	$46,082	$25,408	$46,082	$17,045	88
41	Cornell University	NY	13,725	26	$38,974	$23,122	$38,974	$15,587	95
42	Wesleyan University	CT	2,733	24	$39,127	$21,401	$39,127	$23,753	99
43	Colby College	ME	1,830	33	$45,849	$25,318	$45,849	$17,270	84
44	Bucknell University	PA	3,440	43	$36,165	$19,165	$36,165	$16,000	44
45	Kenyon College	OH	1,576	51	$36,273	$17,905	$25,183	$20,850	32
46	Centre College	KY	1,055	68	$28,529	$15,842	$19,002	$14,300	11
47	Rhodes College	TN	1,541	64	$30,080	$18,899	$21,296	$15,100	15
48	Macalester College	MN	1,840	58	$32,847	$16,394	$27,419	NA	29
49	Barnard College	NY	2,297	46	$37,940	$17,826	$33,701	$14,030	42
50	Brandeis University	MA	3,057	38	$39,101	$22,257	$24,255	NA	81
51	College of the Holy Cross	MA	2,801	41	$36,851	$23,846	$28,381	$16,063	69
52	Harvey Mudd College	CA	699	35	$38,880	$22,041	$32,890	$20,219	90
53	Wake Forest University	NC	4,045	42	$36,079	$21,196	$27,438	$24,769	61
54	Bryn Mawr College	PA	1,321	45	$37,890	$18,609	$36,160	NA	57
54	Wheaton College**	IL	2,395	66	$27,076	$17,341	$22,678	$15,864	24
55	Tufts University	MA	4,910	40	$39,173	$20,115	$37,477	$15,499	79
56	Oberlin College	OH	2,848	50	$37,688	$21,081	$26,683	$13,926	50
57	Mount Holyoke College	MA	2,191	49	$38,668	$19,268	$28,368	$14,200	51
58	Furman University	SC	2,772	69	$29,430	$16,296	$20,230	$17,741	14
59	St. Olaf College	MN	3,041	67	$29,879	$17,458	$25,254	$18,806	25
60	Brigham Young University	UT	29,379	95	$9,663†	$7,621	$6,523	$11,000	2
61	Lehigh University	PA	4,706	65	$35,670	$19,123	$23,231	$16,972	30
62	Smith College	MA	2,647	56	$37,937	$18,466	$28,306	$19,911	52
63	Beloit College	WI	1,281	70	$30,264	$17,452	$23,690	$14,942	24
64	Taylor University	IN	1,869	90	$24,723	$15,678	$20,538	$15,117	7
65	Union College	NY	2,147	72	$36,455	$18,431	$16,455	$15,725	22
66	Hamilton College	NY	1,851	54	$38,463	$19,474	$29,638	$16,856	55
67	DePauw University	IN	2,338	88	$32,150	$15,531	$21,813	$14,481	8
68	Hillsdale College	MI	1,220	99	$23,353	$13,853	$16,853	$14,500	6
69	Knox College	IL	1,121	80	$30,894	$15,494	$21,205	$16,920	13
70	University of Southern California	CA	16,145	59	$37,968	$21,606	$25,660	$20,619	70
71	Trinity College	CT	2,098	53	$38,890	$19,667	$33,390	$17,000	78
72	Trinity University	TX	2,406	86	$27,086	$16,706	$21,193	NA	20
73	Gustavus Adolphus College	MN	2,536	89	$27,820	$17,609	$21,977	$17,400	18
74	Vanderbilt University	TN	6,146	52	$38,847	$20,971	$23,049	$24,023	86
75	Whitman College	WA	1,454	74	$33,776	$21,176	$25,776	$15,000	36
76	Scripps College	CA	798	91	$36,500	$17,984	$21,355	$12,941	23
77	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	1,926	73	$36,580	$20,925	$24,751	$19,656	40
78	Saint Louis University	MO	7,178	100	$29,983	$16,902	$21,714	$14,989	16
79	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	5,475	63	$38,460	$24,689	$25,952	$19,195	76
80	Lawrence University	WI	1,389	83	$32,875	$17,882	$25,093	$18,311	34
81	Connecticut College	CT	1,890	62	$44,207	$24,080	$44,207	$17,250	85
82	Case Western Reserve University	OH	3,457	87	$32,802	$18,323	$20,907	$21,830	31
84	Dickinson College	PA	2,261	79	$36,600	$19,753	$24,515	$17,586	39
85	Kalamazoo College	MI	1,265	92	$30,917	$17,947	$21,467	$20,000	33
86	Saint John's University	MN	1,897	97	$27,272	$19,544	$21,687	$20,680	28
87	Boston College	MA	9,000	71	$37,745	$24,470	$32,160	$16,732	73
88	Reed College	OR	1,363	85	$37,900	$18,804	$37,900	$16,758	47
89	Bard College	NY	1,454	82	$38,282	$20,558	$23,338	$15,400	49
90	University of Rochester	NY	4,695	76	$37,246	$20,297	$27,245	NA	60
91	New York University	NY	19,490	60	$40,105	$28,282	$33,355	$21,495	100
92	Villanova University	PA	7,375	75	$36,560	$26,463	$29,161	$28,217	72
93	Skidmore College	NY	2,506	78	$38,838	$21,023	$29,438	$15,560	71
94	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	IN	1,642	93	$32,625	$28,677	$28,720	$27,000	63
95	St. John's College	MD	465	81	$36,635	$21,940	$34,477	$20,753	75
96	Babson College	MA	1,735	77	$38,443	$21,316	$30,308	NA	83
97	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	1,882	96	$34,472	$26,447	$33,222	$21,125	80
98	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	5,139	84	$39,200	$22,360	$28,411	$24,590	94
99	Sarah Lawrence College	NY	1,226	94	$42,121	$22,847	$33,610	$14,864	89
100	The George Washington University	DC	10,328	98	$40,240	$25,866	$29,916	NA	96

NA not available
* some students may receive both need and non-need sources as well as non-institutional scholarships.
# Cost is for room, board, and books only.
† Based on tuition for members of The Church of Jesus Christ. Total cost for non-members is $10,493 per year.
**Original ranking for Wheaton College was 83. Kiplinger updated the ranking based on new data.
Source: Peterson's, a Thomson corporation

Widespread discounting
The most recent study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) shows that private schools used both need-based and non-need-based aid to slash their sticker prices in 2002 by an average of 39%. That compares to a 27% discount in 1990. More than 80% of all students received some aid (both need and non-need) in 2002, up from 63% in 1990.

Let those numbers sink in for a moment. More than four-fifths of students at private colleges get some help paying the bills, and, on average, the real out-of-pocket cost is about 61% of the sticker price. (Need-based financial aid consists of grants, loans and work-study jobs designed to fill the gap between a school's cost and the amount that standardized formulas suggest a family ought to be able to afford.)

In general, small colleges that charge relatively low tuitions (those with fewer than 850 incoming students in an average freshman class and that cost less than $21,000 a year) offer the biggest discounts -- 42% overall, according to NACUBO. Small schools with higher costs were next, at 39%. Yet the trend is substantial even at larger colleges, which offer average discounts of 31%.

One big reason colleges discount their fees is that it helps them attract a more diverse and talented student body, and that can bolster a college's reputation.

Quality, cost, value
Students don't have to be wunderkinds to benefit from the trend toward more generous merit aid. That's particularly true at super schools that don't rise to the top of the elite list. Smaller, not quite top-tier schools are the most likely places to offer merit aid. They compete with bigger schools for the same bright students, and they may be more generous to get them.

How can you track down such schools? That's where our database can help. Finding the right college is a uniquely personal decision that no list of college statistics can make for you or your child. But our list is a good place to begin narrowing the field. It covers colleges in 29 states and the District of Columbia, ranging from the 67-student Webb Institute, in Glen Cove, N.Y., to the 29,000-strong Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah.

We used the same methodology we applied to our survey of public colleges to determine the rankings -- with a few twists.

The 100 finalists were ranked on a combination of quality and cost components. We looked at total cost (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books and supplies), the average cost for a student with need after subtracting need-based grants (but not loans), the average cost for a student without need after subtracting merit grants, the percentage of all financial aid that comes from grants and the average debt accumulated before graduation.

We include two figures in our database that are not used in scoring. The first is the percentage of need met. Note that only 15 schools meet less than 90% of need. The second is the percentage of students receiving non-need-based aid. Unfortunately, these numbers can be misleading, because reported figures can include noninstitutional grants. Thus, a student who receives four scholarships from hometown sources, for example, could be counted as four students for purposes of this percentage. (Institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and MIT, for instance, don't offer merit scholarships at all.)

Overall, our scoring places greater weight on quality -- which accounts for about two-thirds of the final score -- than on cost. The reason is simple: A good value isn't necessarily the college that charges the lowest price.

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