These 18 Pennsylvania Colleges Give You The 'Best Bang For Your Buck' In America

You may be surprised - even shocked - to see the 18 Pennsylvania colleges that give you the best bang for your buck. And they may not be cheap.

Swarthmore College tops the national and Pennsylvania lists, as a matter of fact, scoring very high on the Kiplinger annual list of 300 schools that provide the best value.

The schools were were selected from a pool of 1,200 colleges, and the list is based on quality and affordability. Kiplinger, a personal finance magazine, looked at admission and graduation rates as well as the total cost per year. Swarthmore has among the highest costs in the country, topping more than $64,000 a year. But the list also looks at need-based aid, debt at graduation and salary yardstick.

Read the methodology and entire list here.

Here is the list of Pennsylvania schools and what makes them affordable..the national ranking is in parenthesis. And here is the order of the numbers: ANNUAL COST; NEED-BASED AID; DEBT; SALARY YARDSTICK:

• (1) Swarthmore College, Swarthmore; 64,840; 44,256; 18,262; 48,500
• (33) Haverford College, Haverford; 67,919; 45,390; 14,750; 56,600
• (40) University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; 67,280; 41,598; 26,157; 79,700
• (51) Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr; 65,160; 38,637; 22,914; 53,600
• (55) Lafayette College, Easton; 65,105; 37,495; 31,154; 68,800
• (70) Bucknell University, Lewisburg; 65,516; 25,000; 22,500; 69,100
• (78) Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster; 66,810; 41,659; 26,162; 52,700
• (87) Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA; 62,010; 34,878; 34,940; 76,700
• (97) Dickinson College, Carlisle; 65,129; 35,343; 28,108; 53,300
• (100) Muhlenberg College, Allentown; 60,700; 31,259; 30,527; 56,300
• (105) Villanova University, Villanova; 63,473; 30,020; 33,588; 73,900
• (106) Gettysburg College, Gettysburg; 63,500; 33,139; 30,544; 52,600
• (144) Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; 67,980; 31,417; 31,444; 76,200
• (151) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh; 41,388; 8,334; 38,045; 48,800
• (217) Penn State University Park, University Park; 46,082; 7,144; 35,972; 47,700
• (229) Geneva College, Beaver Falls; 36,350; 16,503; 32,943; 38,900
• (267) Temple University, Philadelphia; 39,564; 6,390; 37,372; 47,200
• (281) West Chester University of Pennsylvania, West Chester; 30,748; 5,425; 32,031; 46,100

Patch file photo