KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE NAMES TCNJ A “FIRST-CLASs EDUCATION AT A BARGAIN PRICE”

Kiplinger's Personal Finance recently released its ranking of the nation's top 100 values in public higher education, and The College of New Jersey took the #19 spot out of more than 500 eligible colleges and universities.

The College tops the list of public institutions in New Jersey and joins institutions like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cal Berkeley, William and Mary, and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the top 20. TCNJ was regarded as a particularly good value for out-of-state students, ranking #4 nationally in that category.

Per semester, in-state tuition at the College for the 2005-2006 academic year is $3,525. Out-of-state tuition is $6,157.

Selected from a pool of over 500 public four-year colleges and universities, the schools on the Kiplinger list were ranked according to academic quality, cost, and financial aid offerings. For more information on the ranking methodology, visit www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges.

According to a Kiplinger’s press release, while most of the top 100 public colleges have 15,000 students or more, smaller public schools on the list, such as TCNJ, rival private liberal arts colleges, proving that students do not need to sacrifice an intimate setting for reasonable prices. Undergraduate students at TCNJ enjoy small classes, work closely with professors, and are privy to advanced research opportunities that are only available in graduate programs at most institutions.

This ranking comes on the heels of the U.S. News and World Report’s survey, which ranked the College as the top public institution in the north in the ‘Top Universities—Master’s’ category of the survey. The College was also recognized as one of the nation’s 75 most competitive colleges in a 2005 Barron’s ranking.