Princeton University Offers Best Value For Your Buck In America

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton University has been named the best college for the money in America by Money magazine. It topped the financial magazine’s list of the 727 best colleges based on quality of education, affordability and outcomes.

Money pared down its rankings by only including institutions that had at least 500 students, had sufficient, reliable data that could be analyzed, and weren't strapped for cash. The colleges also had graduation rates that were at least the median for its institutional category — public, private or historically black college or university — or had a high “value-added” graduation rate.

Here are Princeton’s stats:

• Overall rank: 1
• Median SAT/ACT score: 1500/34
• Estimated price 2018-19 without aid: $67,700
• Est. price 2018-19 with average grant: $19,000
• Percent with need who get grants: 100 percent
• Average student debt: $7,500
• Early career earnings: $69,800

Money used research and expert advice on education quality, financing, and value to create its rankings. The magazine, for example, says every student at Princeton who needs a grant gets one, and the average recipient sees the estimated price fall to $19,000.

The average Princeton grad accrues just $7,500 in student debt — less than half that of the No. 2 school, University of California-San Diego — and sees early career earnings of nearly $70,000.

Money acknowledged that money isn't everything when it comes to college, noting that what students actually learn remains somewhat of a mystery.

“The various assessments of college student learning are controversial, few colleges use them and very few of the ones that do release the results publicly,” the authors wrote.

The researchers said they couldn't find “good data on basic indicators” for academic rigor, such as the number of pages of writing and reading required per assignment. The authors also highlighted that they didn't adjust the earnings data to cost of living, so some colleges located in poorer areas or areas with low costs of living may be ranked too low.

Click here to see the full rankings.

See related: 21 NJ Colleges Among Best In America For Your Money In 2018

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