Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is ranked among the nation’s best values among private universities, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s 2010-2011 list of 100 schools that provide “high quality education at an affordable price.” In the recently released rankings, Rensselaer placed 53rd.

To calculate its rankings, Kiplinger’s considered the following factors:  admission rates, SAT or ACT scores, students per faculty, graduation rate, total cost,  cost after need-based aid, aid from grants, cost after non-need-based aid, non need-based aid, and average debt after graduation.

According to Kiplinger’s, the rankings measure academic quality and affordability, with quality accounting for two-thirds of the total. “We start with data on more than 600 private institutions and sort the schools first based on quality measures, such as the admission rate, the test scores of incoming freshmen, and four- and five-year graduation rates,” Kiplinger’s said in announcing the rankings on its website. “We then add cost data, including tuition, fees, room and board and aid, and re-rank the institutions accordingly. It is this combination of quality and affordability — certainly not any desire on our part to exclude a particular school or state — that determines which schools make our lists for best value.”

Rensselaer currently spends more than $80 million in scholarship aid for its students, and has maintained financial aid spending during the ongoing worldwide economic crisis. More than 90 percent of Rensselaer students receive scholarship aid and all Rensselaer applications are considered for merit scholarships.

To see the full rankings, visit: http://www.kiplinger.com/reports/best-college-values/

Kiplinger is a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, available in print, online, audio, video, and software products.

Contact: Mark Marchand
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: marchm3@rpi.edu