Private Colleges Worth the Price - ranking

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Kristin Davis

(*) For middle 50%, score for verbal and math is 700-790.

(**) For middle 50%, score for verbal is 680-780; for math, 680-760.

(***) For middle 50%, combined score is 1380-1500.

([dagger]) Source: National Collegiate Athletic Assn.

(#) 1998-99 total cost; 1999-2000 cost not available.

([double dagger]) Room and board and fees; tuition waived for all students.

NA not available

SOURCES: Peterson's; Kiplinger reporting

What the table tells you

THE DATA IN OUR TABLES was supplied by Peterson's, the Princeton, N.J., publisher of college guides, and supplemented by our own reporting. (Peterson's, however, played no role in ranking the schools.) Most data covers the 1998-99 academic year, with exceptions noted below.

The table does not show all the data we used to assess the colleges. Where data was not available ("NA"), we used averages or supplemental data for purposes of scoring.

SAT SCORES ABOVE 600 VERBAL/MATH show the percentage of 1998-99 freshmen who scored 600 or better on the verbal portion of the SAT I and 600 or better on the math portion. For colleges where a majority of students submit ACT scores, we show the percentage that scored 24 or better.

ADMISSION RATE iS the percentage of 1998-99 applicants who were offered admission.

FRESHMEN RETURN FOR SOPHOMORE YEAR is the percentage of 1997-98 freshmen who returned the following year.

FOUR-YEAR AND SIX-YEAR GRADUATION RATES show the percentage of 1992-93 freshmen who earned a bachelor's degree within four and six years.

STUDENTS PER FACULTY MEMBER shows the average number of students to each member of the teaching faculty.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS shows how many undergraduate classes are taught by graduate assistants. (Colleges could respond "none," "few," "a quarter" or "many.")

TOTAL COST is the sum of tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board for the 1999-2000 academic year. It does not include books, transportation and personal expenses.

COST AFTER NEED-BASED AID is the 1998-99 total cost minus the average need-based aid package in 1998- 99 (or in 1997-98 for colleges that could not supply the latest figures).

PERCENT RECEIVING MERIT AWARD is the percentage of 1998-99 freshmen who received a scholarship or grant based on academic or other ability.

COST AFTER MERIT AWARD is the 1998-99 total cost minus the average non-need-based award in 1998-99 (or in 1997-98 for colleges that could not supply the latest figures).

AVERAGE DEBT is how much the average 1998 graduate owed in education loans at graduation.

RELATED ARTICLE: If your child is a top student ...

OR A TALENTED musician or artist, pay special attention to schools that award hefty merit-based scholarships. At these schools, at least 30% of last year's freshmen earned a non-need-based scholarship that reduced total costs to less than $20,000 a year. Near the top of the list, Cooper Union, in New York City, awards every student a full-tuition scholarship, effectively charging only for room and board.

SCHOOL                    (RANK)   COST AFTER
                                   SCHOLARSHIP

University of Dallas        (72)   $ 7,475
Hendrix College             (43)     7,576
Cooper Union                 (5)    10,500
Millsaps College            (69)    11,695
Southwestern University     (51)    13,844
Illinois Wesleyan           (12)    14,776
DePauw University           (66)    15,133
Birmingham-Southern         (79)    15,806
College of Wooster          (87)    17,685
Rice University              (1)    17,979
Whitman College             (42)    18,133
Denison University          (77)    18,380