Pennsylvania Has 16 Best-Value Colleges, Forbes Says

At many colleges and universities, the deadline for admitted students to put down a deposit is right around the corner. With that in mind, Forbes has ranked its best value colleges in America for this year, and 16 colleges from Pennsylvania made the list.

Forbes says it evaluated the colleges and universities based on net price, net debt, alumni earnings, timely graduation, school quality and accessibility for low-income students. The list evaluates institutions that offer four-year degrees. It doesn’t include private for-profit schools, such as the University of Phoenix or DeVry University.

A total of 300 colleges were listed. The top-ranked best value college in the Keystone State is Swarthmore College, says Forbes. Trailing close behind is Haverford.

Public research universities dominated the list, accounting for 166 of the 300 institutions. Prestigious private schools, including smaller liberal arts schools, also performed well across the board.

Here's a look at all the Pennsylvania institutions that made the list, and their overall ranking.

• Swarthmore College (23rd)
• Haverford College (26th)
• University of Pennsylvania (28th)
• Franklin and Marshall College (105th)
• Lafayette College (119th)
• Lehigh University (142nd)
• Grove City College (153rd)
• Carnegie Mellon University (167th)
• Bucknell University (187th)
• Villanova University (199th)
• Pennsylvania State University (200th)
• Dickinson College (244th)
• University of Pittsburgh (264th)
• Bryn Mawr College (279th)
• Saint Joseph's University (PA) (286th)
• Gettysburg College (294th)

Here are the top 10 best value colleges in America, according to Forbes:

1. University of California, Los Angeles
2. University of California, Berkeley
3. Brigham Young University
4. University of California, Irvine
5. University of Washington, Seattle
6. Harvard University
7. Stanford University
8. Princeton University
9. University of California, San Diego
10. Amherst College

You can view the full list by clicking here.

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