2011 Best Values in Public Colleges

This list from Kiplinger is based on entirely measurable criteria, including student-faculty rations, admission rates, on-time graduation rate, tuition and the cost of room and board. It considers traditional four-year programs with broad-based curricula, which excludes military academies and other specialized programs.
The Top 25 Best Values:
1. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2. University of Florida, Gainesville
3. University of Virginia, Charlottesville
4. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
5. University of Maryland, College Park
6. State University of New York, Binghamton
7. State University of New York, Geneseo
8. University of Georgia, Athens
9. University of Wisconsin, Madison
10. University of Washington, Seattle
11. New College of Florida, Sarasota
12. University of California, San Diego
13. University of California, Los Angeles
14. University of Texas, Austin
15. North Carolina State University, Raleigh
16. University of California, Berkeley
17. University of California, Irvine
18. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
19. James Madison University, Harrisonburg
20. Florida State University, Tallahassee
21. College of New Jersey, Ewing
22. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
23. Texas A&T University, College Station
24. Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blackburg
25. Stony Brook University (SUNY), Stony Brook
These ranks are also based on in-state tuition. To see the best values for out-of-state tuition, see Kiplinger’s college rankings.