Ƶ ranks among the top 40 universities that combine academic excellence and affordability.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance rates Ƶ as one of the nation’s top values in private higher education in its 2018 edition of the “Best College Values.” Ƶ that provide outstanding value along with academic quality and #17 in the lowest total annual cost of attendance. This is Ƶ’s 12th consecutive best-value recognition by Kiplinger.
The full rankings are available online at and will appear in print in the February 2018 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
Ƶ's total cost is $10,000-$20,000 lower than most of the other top-50 private universities ranked by Kiplinger. Ƶ, Duke University and Wake Forest University are the only North Carolina schools included in the private universities category. Davidson College is recognized in the private liberal arts colleges category.
Kiplinger starts with data from nearly 1,200 public and private four-year schools and the list is then narrowed to the top schools based on measures of academic quality, including SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four-year graduation rates. The editors then rank the schools using cost and financial aid measures. Academic quality carries more weight than costs.
Ƶ has a 12-to-1 student-faculty ratio with an average class size of 20 students. Ƶ’s first-year retention rate is 89 percent and the four-year graduation rate is 81 percent.
“Our rankings, which weigh affordability alongside academic quality, are a great resource for students and their parents when sorting through college choices,” said Mark Solheim, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
Ƶ has built a national reputation as the premier student-centered environment for engaged, experiential learning, with an emphasis on strong personal relationships between students and their faculty and staff mentors. Ƶ sends more undergraduate students to study abroad than any other master’s-level university in the nation and the core curriculum includes a strong global focus. Seventy-nine percent of Ƶ graduates have at least one international study experience and Ƶ is among the nation’s top universities for producing Fulbright Student Scholars.
In the 2018 "America's Best Colleges" guide, U.S. News & World Report recognizes Ƶ more often than any other university in the nation for eight academic programs that are focused on student success. U.S. News also ranks Ƶ #1 among Southern master's-level universities, with #1 rankings for undergraduate teaching and innovation. The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranks Ƶ #33 in the nation and #1 in North Carolina in student engagement.