Even as Tufts takes the top spot as the priciest college in Massachusetts, students may not be completely down for the count. Finance magazine Kiplinger ranked Tufts No. 22 on its list of best values in private universities.
The university took the third spot for overall college value in Massachusetts in the rankings, which the magazine released in early November.
Kiplinger rated the overall value of universities based on their quality and financial affordability, considering factors like the school's overall cost and cost after need-based aid.
Jane Bennett Clark, senior associate editor at Kiplinger, explained that the magazine drew information from a number of areas, initially gathering information from Peterson's, a company that specializes in test preparation and offers searchable databases on colleges and financial aid.
With this information, she told the Daily that the magazine sorted schools based on several "quality measures," including admission rates, number of incoming freshmen, graduation rate and faculty-student ratio.
"Once we have culled rankings from that list, we add our own cost measures," she said. "The combination is what we consider a value."
Another popular source of college rankings, US News and World Report, ranked Tufts No. 26 on its 2010 list of best college values using similar guidelines.
Clark noted that Tufts' ranking of 22nd had a lot to do with the amount of financial aid made available by the university, specifically cost after need-based aid.
For the 2009-10 academic year, close to half of the student body received need-based aid, according to Director of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly. Reilly said the average Tufts student who receives this financial support pays about $20,000 after financial aid is applied. Tufts' total price tag weighs in at $51,088, which includes tuition, fees and the cost of room and board.
According to Reilly, the average cost of a Tufts education — taking into account students who receive financial aid and those who pay full freight — is approximately $35,000 a year.
Clark said the magazine values its combination of academic value and financial value. It came as no surprise to her that many schools highly ranked by the Kiplinger rankings also show up high on the US News list of rankings.
"Some of the top-ranked schools do tend to give incredible values," she said. "You can go to some schools and pay less than out-of-state tuition at a public school. You can get some pretty strong financial aid. It is one of the factors. We do weigh quality more heavily than cost."
That value is something that Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser feels sometimes gets lost in conventional rankings.
"None of the formulas are perfect," Glaser said. "It's always one aspect more than others that gets brought out by the rankings. We're not going to perform equally well on all of them but sure, we like to be ranked highly."
Glaser's definition of value goes beyond the academic and financial considerations mentioned by Clark.
"It is in the reputation of the school, the networks you join while you are here. That's something most people know, but it is not something I think most people think about when they write their check," Glaser said.
Executive Administrative Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences Leah McIntosh said that the university hopes to increase the amount of financial aid given out to students in the future through Tufts' $1.2 billion Beyond Boundaries campaign.
"One of the key goals for the Tufts Beyond Boundaries campaign has been to increase the amount of funding available for financial aid," McIntosh told the Daily in an e-mail. "It is certainly my hope that we will be able to continue to increase financial aid over the coming years."
Aside from all the specifics over rankings like Kiplinger's, Glaser noted that rankings are not the be-all end-all.
"I do feel like they do have some value for students, but you can overemphasize them because they are not the final word, and many places have strengths that are not captured by the rankings," Glaser said.
Glaser said that the unique elements universities can offer students often lie outside the rankings.
"For individual students with particular interests and needs, some places might be better for them than others, but that might get lost in the rankings," he added. "The best thing prospective students can do is to visit a school and find out what its strengths and weaknesses are."
