Kiplinger's Best College Values 2018

We name 300 standout public and private schools, based on quality and affordability. This year, Princeton, Davidson and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill top our lists.

- Kaitlin Pitsker

AS THE COST OF ATTENDING COLLEGE CONTINUES TO RISE AND MANY GRADUATES STRUGGLE to repay student loans, families are putting pressure on colleges to justify their ever-growing price tags. Lawmakers, too, are pushing to improve cost transparency by beefing up tools to help families see what they’ll pay and reduce student borrowing. The proposed pieces of legislation, which have bipartisan support, would also provide families with more information about on-time graduation rates for students who attended a particular school and how successful graduates are at finding well-paying jobs.

Selecting a college and deciding how to pay for it have become high-stakes financial decisions. Over the past 20 years, tuition, fees, and room and board, adjusted for inflation, have increased by 59% at private, nonprofit four-year colleges and by a whopping 82% for in-state students attending public four-year colleges, according to the College Board. The average student-loan debt for those who borrow has increased 29% over the past 15 years, while the average earnings of recent college graduates—after adjusting for inflation—have remained relatively flat.

What hasn’t changed is Kiplinger’s definition of value: a high-quality education at an affordable price. We were the first to assess colleges based on a combination of a school’s academic merits and the cost of attendance. To that end, we present our annual list of 300 best-value colleges and universities to help you see how your options stack up. As in recent years, we give you a combined list of colleges as well as separate lists for the best values in private universities, private liberal arts colleges and public colleges (the top 150 schools are ranked starting on page 34; for the full rankings, go to kiplinger.com/links/colleges).