Spring 2004
Top-Tier’s 2005 List of Best College Buys

By Kelley Lloyd, Editor

Many lists computing the best values in higher education appear each year. As the cost of a university education continues to climb, these lists receive increased attention from bargain hunters.

Different variables determine the outcomes of these lists. Some publications weight value based upon ratios of quality to price. Others consider the difference between per-pupil expenditures (a university’s budget) to tuition costs (a university’s price). And many more pay close attention to the number of undergraduates receiving financial aid to offset the costs associated with enrollment.

“ Top-Tier’s 2005 List of Best College Buys” is a list of those schools that, regardless of the methodologies used by different examiners, were most frequently mentioned as good values. We are grateful to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) for the brief descriptions of the out-of-state institutions that made our list below. For the best guide to the intellectual, social, and political currents that run through the 125 most competitive American colleges and universities, we highly recommend ISI’s wonderful 2004 Guide to the Right College, found on their Web site at www.isi.org.

California Institute of Technology
www.caltech.edu
Undergraduate enrollment: 907
SAT Ranges (Verbal/Math): 700-780 (V); 750-800 (M)
Applicants: 2,894
Accepted: 18%
Enrolled: 45%
Application deadline: January 15
Financial aid application deadline: December 15
Tuition: $19,959/$27,825
Core curriculum: Yes

What is now Cal Tech began in 1891 as a small school of arts and crafts in downtown Pasadena. It became the California Institute of Technology in 1920, and its growth thereafter was brisk. Guided by men recruited from MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of California, and many other prestigious universities, Cal Tech awarded its first Ph.D.s in 1924, the year after professor Robert Millikan received the Nobel Prize in physics. The institute shed its schools of business and an academy, along with other units unnecessary for the fulfillment of its ambitious goals. It added new programs and departments only when it was certain it had the financial backing and personnel to ensure their quality. Cal Tech, in more ways than one, can take its students to the stars.

Reed College (OR)
www.reed.edu
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,366
SAT ranges (Verbal/Math): 630–730 (V); 590–700 (M)
Applicants: 1,716
Accepted: 74%
Enrolled: 28%
Application deadline: January 15
Financial aid application deadline: March 1
Tuition: $25,020/$31,840
Core curriculum: Yes

Much pride is taken at Reed because it was named the “most intellectual college in the country” in a recent book on higher education. Whether one agrees with this claim, it is certainly true that many Reedies, as they are known locally, see their undergraduate education as a primer for graduate school and a career in academe. Reed proudly trumpets statistics showing that over the past several years it ranks third in the nation among all institutions of higher learning in the production of future Ph.D.s. Categorically, Reed ranks first in percentage of life science graduates and third in the percentage of science/engineering graduates who go on to earn Ph.D.s. Overall, in percentage of graduates who go on to take doctorates, Reed trails only the CalTech and Harvey Mudd.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
www.unc.edu
Undergraduate enrollment: 15,321
SAT Ranges (Verbal/Math): 570-680 (V); 570-680 (M)
Applicants: 16,022
Accepted: 39%
Enrolled: 55%
Application deadline: January 15
Financial aid application deadline: March 1
Tuition: resident: $2,262/$7,262; non-resident: $11,418/$16,418
Core curriculum: No

One of the oldest universities in the country, the University of North Carolina’s flagship campus in Chapel Hill has a proud history of educating many of the state’s leading political figures and businessmen. But since its founding in 1789, this large, public university has also acquired a national reputation for its high-quality academics, exceedingly low tuition, and dominant sports teams. Professors want to teach there—its educational program is solid; the campus is beautiful, and the intellectual community, both in Chapel Hill and the famous Research Triangle Park, is vibrant, supportive, and challenging. For those outside of North Carolina, admission to the Chapel Hill campus is nearly as competitive as that at many elite private schools. But the tuition for out-of-staters—$10,622—is about half the price of those colleges.

Grove City College (PA)
www.gcc.edu
Undergraduate enrollment: 2,323
SAT averages (Verbal/Math): 560-680 (V); 600-690 (M)
Applicants: 2,163
Accepted: 44%
Enrolled: 61%
Application deadline: February 15
Financial aid application deadline: April 15
Tuition: $7,220/$11,426
Core curriculum: Yes

Founded in 1876, Grove City has consistently upheld both high ideals and high standards for its faculty and students. It requires that its faculty be practicing Christians and that its students attend chapel functions a minimum of 16 times each semester. It is not embarrassed by Western heritage and requires an excellent six-semester sequence in traditional humanities. “In brief, Grove City College aims to be a Christian college of liberal arts and sciences,” the college states. “It seeks to help its students to grow as persons, to achieve an integrated overview of reality, and master at least one major discipline of knowledge…. Grove City College is not narrowly denominational. The college simply aims to give today’s youth the best in the liberal arts and sciences in a wholesome Christian environment.”

University of New Hampshire
www.unh.edu
Undergraduate enrollment: 11,496
SAT averages (Verbal/Math): 500-590 (V); 510-610 (M)
Applicants: 10,376
Accepted: 77%
Enrolled: 33%
Application deadline: February 15
Financial aid application deadline: April 15
Tuition: $8,130/$17,830
Core curriculum: Yes

As a publication that originates from New Hampshire’s Seacoast, we would be remiss if we did not include in our list of best buys this local institution. Founded in 1866 as one of the country’s first land-grant colleges, the University of New Hampshire has propelled into the top-tier of national public universities thanks to its outstanding programs in engineering, business and the humanities. Given the Seacoast region’s continued growth, and the growing demand for a well-educated workforce, UNH is well positioned to build upon its recent success. And with a tuition dwarfed by higher-priced private institutions in the New England area, area high school students would be wise to take a closer look at what the university down the street in Durham has to offer.