Kiplinger’s Personal Finance recognizes the state’s flagship university as one of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges in its February issue.
The University of Arkansas is located in Fayetteville, the largest city in Northwest Arkansas.
Kiplinger’s assesses academic quality according to measurable standards, including the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for their sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Financial criteria include low costs, abundant financial aid and low average debt at graduation.
On the Kiplinger’s list, UA was 65th in the nation, finishing higher than any college or university in nearby states such as Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. At No. 60, the University of Texas at Dallas was the only school within a six-hour drive of Fayetteville to rank ahead of the University of Arkansas.
Last year, UA ranked 44th on Forbes’ annual “Top 100 Best Buy Colleges,” climbing 22 spots in the rankings in three years. According to Forbes, the University of Arkansas provides a better overall value than most Southeastern Conference members and many other public institutions in the region. Forbes calculates the “Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” list by taking a school’s overall quality rank on Forbes’ list of “America’s Top Colleges” and dividing that number by the amount of the school’s tuition and additional fees.
The university was also recognized last year as one of “America’s 100 Best College Buys” as a part of the 22nd annual national college survey conducted by Institutional Research & Evaluation Inc.
Kiplinger’s annual public school rankings are available online.
The University of Arkansas also shared information about making the Kiplinger’s list. It’s available at this link.
