The 17 Best Value Colleges In Pennsylvania: New Ranking Released

The Princeton Review has released its annual edition of best value colleges that provide an “exceptional” return on investment and 17 from Pennsylvania made the cut.

The annual book, released Tuesday, has seven ranking lists that each focus on different aspects of financial aid and career prep. It’s meant to help individuals who want affordable colleges that are academically outstanding and lead to rewarding careers.

Here are the best value colleges in Pennsylvania. The institutions that made the top 50 are indicated in the list:

• Swarthmore College (19th best value)
• Haverford College (32nd best value)
• Carnegie Mellon University (42nd best value)
• Lehigh University (44th best value)
• Muhlenberg College
• Bryn Mawr College
• Dickinson College
• Lafayette College
• Gettysburg College
• Grove City College
• Franklin and Marshall College
• Bucknell University
• Allegheny College
• University of Pennsylvania
• Univeristy of Pittsburgh
• Pennsylvania State University
• Villanova University

The list of 200 schools is not ranked hierarchically, though there is a ranking of the top 50. The Princeton Review, an education services company, selected the 200 schools based on data from surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2017-18. The schools were asked about topics including academics, cost, financial aid, career services, graduation rates, student debt and alumni support.

The list was also based on student and alumni answers. They were asked about starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction.

“Only 7 percent of the nation’s four-year colleges made it into this book,” lead author Robert Franek said in a release. “We salute them for their stellar academics and generous aid awards to students based on need and/or merit. They also provide their undergrads with career services from day one plus strong networks of alumni connections.”

California Institute of Technology claimed the No. 1 spot on the main ranking list, followed by Stanford University and Princeton University. Here are the top 10 best value colleges across the nation:

1. California Institute of Technology — Pasadena, CA
2. Stanford University — Stanford, CA
3. Princeton University — Princeton, NJ
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Cambridge, MA
5. Williams College — Williamstown, MA
6. Harvey Mudd College — Claremont, CA
7. Yale University — New Haven, CT
8. Harvard College — Cambridge, MA
9. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art — New York, NY
10. University of Virginia — Charlottesville, VA

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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