9 Florida Colleges Among Best Value Schools In U.S.

With the rising cost of college tuition and the enormous amount of student debt most graduates take on, prospective college students predictably want to get the most for their money. For students planning to enroll this year, a new list ranks the best value colleges in the country for 2018 and nine of those colleges are right here in Florida.

The list is compiled by Kiplinger, a personal finance and business forecasts publisher. Kiplinger notes that nationally over the past 20 years, tuition for in-state students attending public four-year universities has gone up 82 percent when adjusted for inflation. Tuition hikes have been less dramatic at private, non-profit four-year colleges, but still jumped 59 percent.

University of Florida tops the best value colleges list for schools in the Sunshine state and ranks No. 32 nationwide for all colleges. UF is ranked No. 2 in Kiplinger's list of Best Values in Public Colleges. Florida State University ranked 63 among all colleges and No. 14 in Kiplinger's list of Best Values in Public Colleges.

In Tampa, the University of South Florida ranked 115 among all colleges on the best values list and is ranked No. 39 in Kiplinger's list of Best Values in Public Colleges.

Student-loan debt has also gone up while average earnings of recent college graduates have remained relatively flat, according to Kiplinger. The publication’s annual list of the 300 best value colleges and universities weighs quality with affordability, giving students a resource to see where they’ll get the most for their investment.

Kiplinger defines value as “a high-quality education at an affordable price.”

Listed are nine Florida institutions that are among 300 in the country that rank as best value colleges. The first number is how they ranked among all colleges.

University of Florida (32), Average debt at graduation: $21,645

Florida State University (63); Average debt at graduation: $23,679

University of South Florida (115); Average debt at graduation: $22,337

University of Miami (118); Average debt at graduation: $21,500

New College of Florida (124); Average debt at graduation: $16,577

University of Central Florida (165); Average debt at graduation: $21,911

Florida International University (195); Average debt at graduation: $19,915

University of North Florida (219); Average debt at graduation: $18,685

Rollins College (293); Average debt at graduation: $32,208

To come up with the rankings, Kiplinger looks at admission and graduation rates, academic support, tuition costs and financial aid, average student debt and the salary graduates might earn a decade after they graduate. (You can read more about Kiplinger’s methodology here.)

The top 10 colleges on the list are:

1. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
2. Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
3. Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
4. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusett
5. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
6. Pomona College, Claremont, California
7. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
8. Rice University, Houston, Texas
9. Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia
10. Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

You can see the full list here.

Image of USF campus by Patch staff