These Virginia, DC Colleges Are Best Value For Your Money

At many colleges and universities, the deadline for admitted students to put down a deposit is right around the corner — some as early as Tuesday. With that in mind, Forbes has ranked its best value colleges in America for this year, and nine colleges from Virginia and three from Washington, D.C., made the list. Value doesn't mean cheap, necessarily: Harvard, Princeton, UCLA and Johns Hopkins University are all on the list.

VIRGINIA

• University of Virginia
  • Charlottesville
  • Ranking: 21
  • Tuition: $15,192
• College of William & Mary
  • Williamsburg
  • Ranking: 39
  • Tuition: $19,372
• Washington and Lee University
  • Lexington
  • Ranking: 48
  • Tuition: $46,417
• James Madison University
  • Harrisonburg
  • Ranking: 84
  • Tuition: $10,018
• Virginia Tech
  • Blacksburg
  • Ranking: 86
  • Tuition: $12,485
• University of Richmond
  • Richmond
  • Ranking: 94
  • Tuition: $48,090

• George Mason University
• Fairfax
• Ranking: 98
• Tuition: $10,952

• Virginia Military Institute
• Lexington
• Ranking: 132
• Tuition: $16,536

WASHINGTON, DC

• Georgetown University
  • Ranking: 50
  • Tuition: $48,611
• George Washington University
  • Ranking: 213
  • Tuition: $50,435
• American University
  • Ranking: 216
  • Tuition: $43,103

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Out of the roughly 5,300 colleges and universities in the U.S., California has eight of the top 20 colleges and universities when it comes to best value, Forbes says. That includes three of the top five. Here's the top 10:

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 (Massachusetts)
7. Stanford University
8. Princeton University (New Jersey)
9. University of California, San Diego
10. Amherst College (Massachusetts)

The universities and colleges were evaluated 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.

Forbes says the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Berkeley actually swapped places this year compared to their rankings last year, saying it's about $3,000 cheaper to go to UCLA. UCLA also has more students that receive Pell Grants.

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.

Yale ranked No. 14, Williams ranked No. 15, Pomona ranked No. 16 and MIT came in at No. 17.

Forbes highlighted the City University of New York and Baruch College as particularly good values. Nearly half of students at those universities receive Pell Grants and graduates earn an an average income of $103,000 in the middle of their careers.

Click here to see the full rankings.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Shutterstock