New College Ranked No. 2 Best Value College in America for 2011 by The Princeton Review and USA TODAY
(February 22, 2011) – New College of Florida has been ranked the No. 2 “Best Value Public College in America” for 2011 by The Princeton Review, one of America’s best known education services companies, and USA TODAY, one of the nation’s most widely read newspapers. The No. 1 rated institution was the University of Virginia (Charlottesville).
As part of this year’s rankings, New College was featured on the NBC TODAY Show on Tuesday, February 22, from 7-9 a.m. and in USA TODAY’s February 22 edition.
This is the third consecutive year that the two media entities have teamed up to rank the top 50 public and private colleges in the nation and the third time that New College has been among the top three public schools offering students exceptional academics at an affordable price. In both 2010 and 2009, New College was the No. 3 best value public college. For 2011, the only other state university on the list is the University of Florida (Gainesville), ranked at No. 3.
New College of Florida is the state’s honors college for the liberal arts and sciences. With a student population of just over 800, the College emphasizes individualized learning for academically talented students from Florida and throughout the United States, as well as some 25 foreign countries. New College is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation for both academics and value by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes.com, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and other media outlets.
Tallied by The Princeton Review, the 2011 list features 50 public and 50 private colleges. In each group, the list identifies 10 top schools (see below) in rank order and the remaining 40 in alphabetical order, unranked. The complete lists posted today on The Princeton Review website at http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges.aspx and USA TODAY website at http://www.BestValueColleges.usatoday.com
The Princeton Review chose the schools as its “Best Value Colleges” for 2011 based on criteria covering academics, cost of attendance and financial aid. The methodology examined more than 30 factors using data from the company’s surveys of administrators and students at 650 colleges with strong academic programs. Most of the data analyzed came from surveys conducted from fall 2009 through fall 2010; all cost and financial aid data came from fall 2010 surveys.
For the 2010-2011 academic year, New College’s in-state tuition and fees is $5,347. According to The College Board, average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges is $7,605.
Said Robert Franek, Princeton Review senior VP/publishing, “While a college education is undeniably a valuable investment, paying for college is challenging for most parents. Among the 12,000 respondents to our 2010 ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey’ of college applicants and their parents, 86% told us financial aid would be ‘very necessary’ to foot the bill. For them and for all families seeking academically outstanding colleges that have been exceptional at meeting their students’ needs for financial aid, we’re pleased to have teamed up with USA TODAY to identify and recommend these 100 institutions as ‘Best Value’ colleges.”
The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2011” are:
1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA)
2. New College of Florida (Sarasota FL)
3. University of Florida (Gainesville FL)
4. State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton NY)
5. University of Georgia (Athens GA)
6. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor MI)
7. College of William and Mary (Williamsburg VA)
8. University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill NC)
9. North Carolina State University (Raleigh NC)
10. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York NY)
The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2011” are:
1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)
2. Duke University (Durham NC)
3. Princeton University (Princeton NJ)
4. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA)
5. Harvard College (Cambridge MA)
6. Wesleyan University (Middletown CT)
7. Williams College (Williamstown MA)
8. Vanderbilt University (Nashville TN)
9. Wesleyan College (Macon GA)
10. Yale University (New Haven CT)
The Princeton Review’s and USA TODAY’s websites post the full “100 Best Value Colleges” list with information about the colleges. At USA TODAY’s website, users can click on an interactive map and access a database with stats and facts about each school including its cost of attendance, financial aid, and enrollment—plus a report on why The Princeton Review named it a “Best Value” college.