12 CT Colleges Named Among Best For Your Money: Report

The Nutmeg State is home to some of the most highly esteemed colleges and universities in the country, but are they cost effective? According to Money, a division of Time.com, 12 colleges and universities in Connecticut were ranked among the 711 best colleges for the money in the country.

Yale topped the list, followed by the University of Connecticut and Trinity College in Hartford. Four of the 12 institutions were listed in the top 100 nationally, and all were listed in the top 500. (To sign up for Patch's daily newsletters and breaking news alerts for your community, click here.)

In order to qualify for the rankings schools must have at least 500 students, have sufficient data to be analyzed, not be in financial distress and have a graduation rate at or above the median for its institutional category or have a high "value-added" graduation rate. The schools were judged on quality of education, affordability and educational outcomes.

The rankings were based on data from the U.S. Department of Education, Peterson's, and Payscale.com.

Here's a look at how Connecticut's schools were ranked (national ranking in parentheses.)

1. Yale University, New Haven (14)
2. University of Connecticut, Storrs (37)
3. Trinity College, Hartford (84)
4. Wesleyan University, Middletown (92)
5. Fairfield University, Fairfield (186)
6. University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford (203)
7. Central Connecticut State University, New Britain (352)
8. Connecticut College, New London (398)
9. Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven (405)
10. Quinnipiac University, Hamden (420)
11. Eastern Connecticut State University (557)
12. Sacred Heart University (579)

Here's a look at the top 10 colleges nationally. To view the full rankings, click here.

1. Princeton University, New Jersey
2. CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College, New York
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Michigan
4. University of California-Berkely, California
5. University of California-Los Angeles, California
6. (T-5) Stanford University, California
7. University of California-Irvine, California
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts
9. University of California-Davis, California
10. Harvard University, Massachusetts

Correction: Earlier versions of this story indicated Eastern Connecticut State University and Sacred Heart University were not ranked. The list has been updated to reflect those rankings.

Image: Beth J. Harpaz/ Associated Press