Best Values in Private Colleges
These schools offer aid that slashes the cost of a private education.
By Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Associate Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, April 2007
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On an East Coast campus, students with a passion for social justice hold yard sales for Katrina victims and help schoolchildren hone their reading skills. On a campus 3,000 miles away, students with a passion for science research dwarf planets and dark matter. At both colleges, students enjoy a world-class education at prices even families of modest means can afford.
The combination of academic excellence and financial flexibility puts Swarthmore College, near Philadelphia, and California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, at the top of Kiplinger's 2007 rankings for the best values among private institutions. This year, we compiled two lists: one for liberal arts colleges, which offer mostly undergraduate programs, and the other for universities, which also offer graduate degrees. We applied the same academic and cost measures to each.
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For Swarthmore, which tops our liberal arts list, the winning mix includes an outstanding student body, a low student-faculty ratio and a generous helping of assistance for families who can't afford to pay full freight. That policy allowed Scott Storm, a junior, to choose Swarthmore over less-pricey colleges. "Compared with other liberal arts schools, the package here was so much better," says Storm, the first in his family to attend a private college. It includes a grant that covers more than half of the total cost and work-study that brings in about $7,000. Storm and his parents split the remaining expenses. "I've saved my entire life to have enough money for this," he says.
Caltech, highest-ranked on our list of universities, boasts equally impressive academic stats, and one of the top science programs in the country. Caltech offers a remarkable three-to-one student-faculty ratio and a financial-aid policy so lavish that, on average, students graduate with less than $5,500 in debt -- chump change compared with the $19,500 national median. "I don't have to worry about money," says Andrew Kositsky, a junior whose package will allow him to graduate debt-free. "It's very reassuring."
That's not a word ordinarily used to describe the cost of a private education, for which the total annual price (including room and board) averages $30,000. But even the most competitive colleges and universities are willing to knock significant amounts off the sticker price to attract the right students. The average grant package from private institutions comes to about $5,700, according to the College Board. Our rankings help you find the best match among 100 great choices.
Financial need
Looking for an elite liberal arts college that's off the beaten track? Visit Bowdoin, in Brunswick, Maine. This 200-plus-year-old institution, number seven on our list, offers an average aid package of $22,520 to students who need financial assistance. And the school gives good value to all: 90% of its students earn a diploma in four years -- a record that is among the best of any program in our rankings. Bowdoin also stands out for its flexible admission policy: SATs have been optional there for 30 years.
Bowdoin reflects a trend among highly selective schools to level the economic playing field. "Top-tier institutions don't have to worry about attracting the best and brightest. They're looking at this from the standpoint of social responsibility," says Travis Reindl, an analyst of educational trends. Of the first 20 colleges and universities in our rankings, more than half devote all or most of their dollars to need-based aid.
Following the lead of Princeton, which replaced need-based loans with grants a few years ago, Ivy League and other top-tier schools try to balance the mix so that students with the skimpiest safety nets graduate debt-free. "If you're not very needy, your package might include loans and work-study," says James Bock, the financial-aid director at Swarthmore. "The needier you are, the more grants you get."
Like many other private institutions, Swarthmore uses its own calculation, in addition to the federal government's formula, to determine who qualifies for need-based aid. "We really want to know your situation and give a fair assessment," says Bock. The result can be surprising. "People can qualify for aid with incomes of $140,000 and above."
Merit-based aid
Middle- and high-income families can take advantage of another trend in higher education: competition among lower-tier institutions to attract star applicants with merit awards. That practice, also known as tuition discounting, helps schools boost their academic standing, which in turn attracts more students.
The trick is to choose a college where your child stands out among incoming freshmen. Families not bitten by the Ivy bug might consider Kenyon College, a small liberal arts school on a scenic campus in Gambier, Ohio. Number 23 on our list, Kenyon has strong programs in both English and drama. What's more, it bestows merit packages on almost half of its students, in awards that average $12,072.