A Best Value

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has singled out SUNY Oneonta as a top value among the nation’s public colleges and universities. In addition to being named to Kiplinger’s “Top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges” list for the seventh consecutive year, Oneonta ranks No. 3 on Kiplinger’s list of “10 Public Colleges with the Lowest Debt for Graduating Students.”

The 2013 rankings, released in early January, recognize four-year schools that deliver academic quality and affordability. To assess quality, Kiplinger’s uses a number of measurable standards, including the admissions rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include low tuition, abundant financial aid and low average debt at graduation.

Each year, SUNY Oneonta awards nearly $2.5 million in scholarships based on academic achievement. A quarter of the SUNY Oneonta Class of 2011 had no debt at graduation, and the average amount of debt for those who had received student loans was $13,700—about half the national average.

The annual list of “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” is available in Kiplinger’s February 2013 issue and online.