UNC left out of best value ranking

UNC was not present on The Princeton Review’s recent list of Best Value Colleges for 2009, despite being frequently recognized for providing a good education at a comparatively low price.

The Princeton Review and UNC disagree about the reason for UNC’s exclusion.

The University took the top ranking in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s list of the best value public schools in late 2008.

It also ranked fifth on U.S. News & World Report magazine’s list of best public universities in America.

But UNC has not been listed in the top 10 on The Princeton Review’s last two lists.

The University of Virginia topped the list of best value public universities, and N.C. State University took sixth. The University of Georgia came in ninth.

The publication said the fault for not being on the list lies with UNC, which Princeton Review staff said did not provide the information needed to be considered.

“Chapel Hill did not return our requests for confirmation and update of cost and financial aid information, so we were unable to consider them for our Best Value list,” Ben Zelevansky, director of data collection for The Princeton Review, said in an e-mail.

While UNC did not flat-out deny that claim, officials said it is unlikely.

Mike McFarland, director of University communications, said this did not reflect his understanding at all, and the University would have sent The Princeton Review all necessary data.

Jeanne Krier, a publicist for The Princeton Review, said many factors go into choosing the list for the best value colleges, including academics and the amounts of financial aid available to students.

“The schools on the Best Value list are narrowed down based on costs of tuition and amounts of financial aid available to students,” she said.

“We also take into account the level of happiness in the students regarding their financial aid packages and their academic curriculum.”

The list of colleges considered for the best value ranking begins with about 650 schools. About 300 of those also are included in Princeton Review’s list of the 368 Best Colleges in America, which UNC is usually on, Krier said.

In 2008, The Princeton Review ranked UNC No. 1 for “Best College Newspaper,” No. 13 for “Students Pack the Stadiums” and “Happiest Students” and No. 14 for “Jock Schools.” It was also on the list for “Best Southeastern Colleges.”

The Princeton Review is a company that provides test preparation guides and other educational services to students, in addition to ranking colleges in a variety of categories.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.