Using data collected from surveys of students and institutions between fall of 2011 and fall of 2012, The Princeton Review has once again named its “Best Value Colleges”. The study distilled the 650 schools from which data was collected down to a list that includes a mere 150 colleges. According to the explanatory text that accompanied the published list,

The schools that made our “Best Value Colleges for 2013″ list are exceptional for two reasons—they provide stellar academics at an affordable cost—either via a comparatively low sticker price or generous financial aid (or both!). Students who attend these schools don’t have to mortgage their futures to pay for their degrees.

In making its final determination, The Princeton Review examined “more than 30 data points”. Among the categories reviewed were academics, the cost of attendance — beyond just tuition, including books, fees, housing and all the other necessary extras — and the amount of financial aid the school offered. The study also took into consideration the amount of loan debt that graduating seniors had when they received their degrees, and averaged the amount of debt by school. First, I’m going to reprint how the study did the ratings:

Academic Rating
To tally this rating, we analyze a large amount of data the schools report to us about their academic selectivity and admissions, plus opinion data we collect from students reporting on the education they are receiving at their schools. The admissions statistics shed light on how difficult it is to gain acceptance: they include average SAT/ACT scores and high school GPA of enrolled freshmen as well as other data factors. The student data reveals how students at the school rate their professors’ teaching ability as well as how accessible the professors are outside of class.

 

Financial Aid Rating
This rating is also based on a combination of school-reported data and student opinion. We ask schools about the amount of need-based aid they give students. We then ask students how happy they are with their award packages. Very few students, it seems, are ever totally elated about their financial aid packages and the service (or lack thereof) that offices of financial aid provide. Nevertheless, students at some schools are a lot happier than students at other schools.

 

Tuition GPA (or the Real Cost of College)
We start with the sticker price of each college (often referred to as “cost of attendance” that figure includes tuition, required fees and room and board), and subtract the average gift aid (scholarships and grants) awarded to students. We don’t subtract work-study or student loans, since those are costs that students ultimately have to bear. Next, we take all of this data and stir it up in an algorithm based on the idea that bang for your buck means excellent academics, great financial aid and/or low cost of attendance. Simply put, it means value.

The criteria all seem rather impressive, don’t they? But if you glance down at the list itself — or the top 10s, anyway — (below), it seems strange to refer to most of those colleges as “best values.” They seem like pretty posh schools to me. Then, of course, I remember the endowments! So, in the case of the private colleges, anyway, they typically have need blind admissions. This means that if you can get in, to begin with, then they’ll do all they can to help you pay for the ridiculous tuition they charge. Which is great. Assuming you can get in.

As for the “public colleges,” referring to UVA and William and Mary as public schools smacks of disingenuousness. It’s like calling Penn a public school. Yes, technically, they’re public because they’re part of the Commonwealth’s (of Virginia, that is) school system. But they don’t behave like it. Or charge like it either.

Then we’ve got UCLA. It really is a bargain… if you’re a California resident. If not, be prepared to pay Stanford-like tuition. Same goes for Michigan; if you can get in: it’s one of the most selective public schools in the country.

What we really have at the top of this list (and I understand that there are some other, truer “value” schools down the list, like Nebraska-Lincoln) is a group of mostly elite schools. I think the real measure of making that determination, one not included among The Princeton Review’s criteria is the income level of the students and/or their families.

Perhaps one of the reasons the seniors are graduating from these top-of-the-list schools without debt is because they didn’t have to borrow to begin with — and not because of a generous aid package from the college. Rather, I think an examination of the students from the top 10 schools in each category would reveal that compared to a “value” school like Berea College in Kentucky (free for the academically strong and needy), these are largely colleges of the well-to-do. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But I think putting together lists that begin with UVA, Swarthmore and Harvard, and calling them “Best Values” means you need to rethink the name of your lists.