USU ranks in the top 10 for value
Even in the face of a 43 percent tuition increase, Utah State University is still among the cheapest universities in the country, according to the May/June 2004 issue of Consumer’s Digest.
The magazine rated USU as the sixth cheapest university in the United States in relation to educational quality.
The ranking also takes into account the standardized test scores (SAT and ACT), high school rankings and G.P.A. of entering freshmen. The objective of this list was to determine which colleges and universities offer the most academic value per dollar, and the research was conducted among the best 200 public and private colleges, according to the Web site www.collegeboard.com.
The magazine used non-resident tuition prices to calculate its list.
Even though the research used the 2002-03 year tuition fees, Joyce Kinkead, vice provost of undergraduate studies, said the proposed tuition increase probably won’t affect USU’s position on the list.
“Most people think that we can’t compare USU fees with eastern universities because they are more expensive than the majority of the western colleges. But even if you look among western universities you will find out that USU is cheap,” she said.
“We have a large number of students from other states in the West that come to USU because even our out-of-state tuition fee is cheaper that their in-state fee.”
Tuition and fees at universities similar to USU (medium-sized western colleges in a rural setting) are generally more expensive, according to www.collegeboard.com.
Kinkead said she feels students have heard about the increase but don’t really understand how much more they are going to be paying over the next three years.
“When you think about 43percent in three years, you think that’s a lot, it sounds like big money. But the truth is that in the end of this period students will be paying approximately $200 more per semester than they pay now,” she said, “Most universities raise their costs all at once, we are doing it slow. Southern Utah University, also on the list [ninth place], for example, raised its tuition 21 percent this year.”
USU was also ranked on a list put together by Princeton Review on www.princetonreview.com, ranking the best colleges of the West for 2006. The site lists USU as one of the 134 undiscovered universities.
That Web site has also a list of the top 10 cheapest universities, but due to a different rating system that includes room, board and fees in addition to tuition, USU is not listed.
In addition, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher education, a non-profit agency, released a report grading institutions by their affordability.
Only schools from California, Minnesota and Utah earned grades higher than a D. Utah ranked second in affordability.
-acantunes@cc.usu.edu