The 50 best values in public colleges

By Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

It could just be the best public college you've never heard of, with prices so low that it's a steal even for out-of-state students.

The State University of New York at Geneseo, a small liberal-arts college in western New York, boasts top students, a scenic campus, strong programs in arts and sciences, and new dorms with -- drumroll, please -- washers and dryers on every floor. It adjoins a historic village with killer quaintness and puts students within 30 miles of Rochester, a major college town.

What's missing at Geneseo? Arguably, only the buzz that impels some parents to pay two or even three times as much for the same features at a private college.

That's good news for parents and students who want quality and affordability, and the reason that Geneseo qualifies as one of the top 10 best values in public colleges and universities in Kiplinger's annual rankings. This year, Geneseo ranks No. 1 for out-of-state value and No. 6 for in-state value. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a premier research institution with a mission to meet the full financial need of its students, gets top honors for in-state students for the seventh time in a row.

Here's the better news: Most students don't have to go beyond their state borders to find a great public program.

• How the schools were ranked

High school students who live in the north and despise the snow, and Southerners who want to trade their flip-flops for Uggs, also have attractive options. UNC at Asheville, No. 40 on Kiplinger's list, carries an annual out-of-state sticker price of $22,234 total. The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, No. 39, gives out-of-state students Cheesehead status for less than $19,000.

Several schools moved up dramatically in our rankings from last year. For instance, Indiana University-Bloomington jumped 21 slots, to No. 34, thanks in part to improved test scores for incoming freshmen, more-generous financial aid and a lower average debt at graduation. Ohio State moved up 25 slots, to No. 37, owing to better ACT scores among incoming freshmen and a lower cost (after need-based aid was factored in) for in-state students.

Prices head north

Geneseo President Christopher Dahl firmly believes "there's no reason why the state of New York shouldn't offer its residents the same education that would cost $45,000 to $50,000 at a private school. It's elitist to argue that state residents shouldn't have access to an outstanding education at a reasonable price."

Dahl's school makes good on that proposition. In-state students pay $4,350 in tuition and total costs of about $15,000. Out-of-staters pay $10,610 in tuition and $21,226 total.

Lately, however, public colleges have been challenged to deliver that kind of deal in the face of climbing enrollment and competing demands for state funding. Efforts to boost achievement at younger ages mean that higher ed has had to settle for less money, says Ross Hodel, the director of the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University. "The mind-set is that higher education is more of an individual benefit than a benefit to society and (that) higher-education people can take care of themselves."

Increasingly, college administrators are doing just that, by raising private funds or using other revenue to cover some costs. The strategy works well for flagship institutions, such as UNC at Chapel Hill, which just concluded a $2.3 billion fundraising campaign. But it's tougher for lesser-known schools, such as Geneseo, whose $10 million endowment looks like peanuts in comparison.

"We've been commended for doing more with less," Dahl says. "I'd rather do more with more."

Who else covers the shortfall? Parents and students. Although prices for public schools remain relatively modest compared with private schools, annual increases continue to outstrip inflation. In 2007-08, the average total cost for in-state students ran $13,589, a 5.9% increase over the previous academic year, according to the College Board. For out-of-state students, total charges topped $24,000, up 5.4% over the previous year.

Diverging trends

Those costs don't reflect the grants, loans and tax benefits that most families use to pay the bills. Full-time students at four-year public colleges and universities received an average of $3,600 in grants and tax benefits in 2007-08, reports the College Board, reducing in-state tuition and fees from $6,185 to $2,585. The highest average debt at graduation among the schools in our rankings topped out at more than $20,000. That includes private loans, the fastest-growing source of student debt among undergraduates.

Grants and scholarships once went mostly to families whose kids otherwise couldn't afford to go to college. More recently, state legislatures have funded merit scholarships to encourage homegrown students to do well in the lower grades and to attend colleges and universities within the state. Although most financial aid continues to be need-based, according to a 2007 report sponsored by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, "the increase in state merit aid represents one of the most dramatic shifts in higher-education policy since the introduction of the Pell Grant," a federal program for needy students.

The University of Florida, second in Kiplinger's in-state rankings, offers a great deal regardless of financial aid. Its in-state tuition runs only $2,211. (Tuition at UF is slated to go up by as much as 15% a year over the next four years, however.)

Florida's merit-based Bright Futures program, funded by a state lottery, covers 75% to 100% of tuition for in-state students who meet the academic criteria, and most students qualify. "It's very popular," says UF President Bernard Machen. "Constituents and legislators love it."

UNC at Chapel Hill represents a divergent trend: a commitment to meet the financial need of all qualified students and to fill that need with grants, not loans. Its program, called the Carolina Covenant, reaches out to bright high school students from low-income families. The program allows participating students to graduate debt-free. Chapel Hill owes the state for the wherewithal to do it.

"North Carolina has an unbelievable record over the past six years of increasing funding for need-based financial-aid programs," says Shirley Ort, an associate provost and the university's director of scholarships and student aid.

"We've succeeded in conveying that higher education is the key to quality of life in this state," says James Moeser, the chancellor of UNC at Chapel Hill. "I couldn't be more proud of the Carolina Covenant."

The first group of Covenant students will graduate in May. The university also awards merit scholarships, funded by a portion of the revenue it earns from licensed products. "We don't find ourselves in a situation in which we anguish over the share we put into need-based versus merit-based aid," Ort says. "We have dedicated sources that operate in tandem."

Continued: Competing with private colleges

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