New Paltz ranked in national list as best value

The State University of New York at New Paltz is ranked among the top 100 best values in the nation for public four-year institutions that deliver a high quality education at an affordable price, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s annual rankings.

New Paltz ranked 55th out of 672 public 4-year institutions of higher education in the United States, which puts New Paltz in the 92nd percentile.

“As states cut funding for higher education and tuition continues to climb, the word “value” becomes more significant than ever,” said Jane Bennett Clark, senior editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “This year’s top 100 public schools deliver strong academics at reasonable prices. We applaud these institutions for tightening their belts without compromising quality.”

The annual public school rankings appear in Kiplinger’s February 2012 issue—currently on newsstands and online at www.kiplinger.com/links/college. New Paltz, along with 9 other SUNY campuses, made Kiplinger’s top 100 list.

“The cost to attend private colleges has averaged nearly $39,000 a year, according to Kiplinger’s — more than twice the average annual in-state sticker price, which is roughly $17,000, at public schools.

Ranking Methodology

Selected from a pool of more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities, schools in the Kiplinger 100 were ranked according to academic quality, including admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates, as well as on cost and financial aid.

This year, Kiplinger’s revamped the rankings to give more weight to academic value, such as the percentage of students who return for sophomore year and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include low sticker prices, abundant financial aid and low average debt at graduation. Changes in methodology are a factor in shifts in rankings from previous years. More methodology specifics—as well as sortable rankings and other interactive features—are available at:
www.kiplinger.com/links/college. For nine decades, the Kiplinger organization has provided personal finance and business forecasting.

The strong performance by New Paltz in Kiplinger’s comes on the heels of this summer’s rankings in the 2012 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report. New Paltz ranked 6th among best public regional universities in the North with both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.