Kiplinger Ranks UI in Top 100 Public University Values
Wednesday, August 26 1998
August 26, 1998^^MEDIA CONTACT: Bob Hieronymus, (208) 885-6291 or bobh@uidaho.edu^^"Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine" has ranked UI as one of the top 100 values in state universities in the country.^^In its September issue, the magazine lists the top 100 of approximately 600 public four-year colleges and universities based on cost and financial aid access as well as quality of education. The UI is ranked 63rd and is the only institution in Idaho, Utah, Nevada or Montana included in the listing.^^According to the article, the top 100 institutions are "schools where students can graduate with a high-caliber education without a mortgage-size debt." To choose the top 100, the magazine considered SAT scores, admission rates, graduation rates, the percentage of freshmen who return for sophomore year and computer and library resources. Those were ranked based on the quality measures plus total cost, cost as a percentage of a state's per-capita income (which measures affordability for residents), the percentage of a student's financial need the school meets with all forms of financial aid, the percentage of that aid that is loans or work study and the average amount a student must borrow to graduate.^^"This recent ranking by Kiplinger's confirms the University of Idaho reputation for high quality residential undergraduate education at a very competitive cost," said UI President Bob Hoover. "We are rated ahead of many of our land-grant peer group, and should continue to improve in all of the quality measures."^^The Kiplinger ranking comes on the heels of "U.S. News & World Report" ranking the UI among the top 167 national universities in the United States.^^"U.S. News & World Report's" annually ranks the country's 1,400 four-year schools national and regional universities, and national and regional liberal arts colleges.^^"This annual ranking is a good general indicator of our success in relation to other national universities throughout the United States," said Hoover. "We're in good company where we are and will continue to work toward our goal of being among the top 100 national universities in the country."^^The UI is listed in the third tier of national universities, which includes schools such as Kansas State University, University of Utah and Utah State University, University of Oregon and Oregon State, Colorado State University and University of Nevada - Reno. The rankings are based on a variety of data such as academic reputation, retention and graduation rates, class size, faculty salaries, student-to-faculty ratios, alumni giving rate, student SAT scores and high school class rank and financial resources.^^-30-^^KRB-8/26/98MIS==^
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