Kiplinger's magazine ranks KU a best buy

Kiplinger's magazine has ranked KU as among the best values in public universities in the nation where students "can get an excellent education for a reasonable price."

Comparing quality and cost, Kiplinger's editors put KU at 22nd in the nation for in-state students and 26th in the nation for out-of-state students seeking top universities that "give students the best bang for the buck." Last year, using a different methodology, Kiplinger's ranked KU at 28th in the nation and cited KU as one of nine "bargains for out-of-state students." Notably, in 1998 the magazine ranked KU as 48th.

"KU is proud to offer students a very appealing combination of great academics and reasonable costs, and we're gratified to see Kiplinger's confirm our national reputation," said Janet Murguia, KU executive vice chancellor for University relations.

Kiplinger's rankings, presented in its November 2003 issue, are based on data provided by more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities to Peterson's, a division of the Thomson Corp.

The top 100 schools were found by using several measures of academic quality, including superior SAT and ACT student scores, admission rates, class sizes, funding for libraries and student instruction, and the quality of the professors and other instructors.

The magazine also factored in the total cost for students to attend KU, including the average debt a student accumulates before graduation.

For more information, see Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.