—Acknowledged for Embodying Exceptional Economic and Academic Value—
St. Mary’s College of Maryland has been named to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of the Top Best College Values of 2016. St. Mary’s College is ranked among the top 100 on the list of best values in public colleges for both in-state and out-of-state value.
Introduced in 1998, Kiplinger’s rankings highlight public schools, private universities and private liberal arts colleges that combine outstanding academics with affordable cost. St. Mary’s College has been consistently named to the list since its beginning.
Kiplinger assesses value by measurable standards of academic quality and affordability. Quality measures include the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation.
“We start with a universe of 1,200 schools, so each school on our rankings, from number one to number 300, is a best value,” said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. “Families can use the list as a starting point and then tailor it to each student’s preference for such things as size, location, campus culture and major.”
The complete rankings are now available online at Kiplinger.com/links/college and will appear in print in the February 2016 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, on newsstands January 5.