AU has risen to 50th on a list of Kiplinger’s 100 best value colleges, included on the list for the fourth time since 2011.
Kiplinger, a publication that focuses on business and financial topics, published its annual ranking of Best College Values in December 2014. In the private universities category, AU’s No. 50 overall out the top 100 private institutions ranking was up from 59th in the 2013 rankings.
According to Kiplinger reporter Kaitlin Pitsker, the publication concentrated on evaluating affordable, high-quality academic programs.
Pitsker, who helped compile the rankings with other staffers, said that in in order to combine both quality and affordability, certain criteria proved especially important.
“We maintained a heavier emphasis on four-year graduation rate [this year], as graduating on time will mean families are probably spending less and going in to less debt than necessary,” Pitsker said. “At [AU], the 76 percent four-year graduation rate was valued heavily and the generous need-based financial aid was also helpful.”
In addition to analyzing data and doing individual reporting on hundreds of public and private four-year schools, Kiplinger looks at a variety of financial factors. Among these criteria are competitiveness, graduation rates, academic support, cost and financial aid and student indebtedness.
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