Princeton Review ranks WU 7th-best value

| News Editor

After ranking No. 7 on the Princeton Review’s list of “Best Value Private Colleges and Universities” in 2012, Washington University dropped out of the top 10 in the 2013 edition.

The Princeton Review factors in academic quality, financial aid accessibility and “Tuition GPA,” or the real cost of college.

The University still made the cut for the Princeton Review’s 75 best value private colleges and universities, but schools are not ranked outside of the top 10. It placed No. 11 in financial aid among public and private institutions.

Data for the rankings were collected from fall 2011 to fall 2012.

Swarthmore College edged out Harvard University for the top private school rank while the University of Virginia and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill placed first and second among public schools.

While Princeton Review calculated Washington University’s sticker price at $58,395, including tuition, room and board, required fees and average book expenses, over one in three students received average need-based grants of $31,747 and average need-based loans of $5,311.

Financial aid figures rose from the 2012 rankings when the University cracked the top 10, but the percentage of students who borrowed dropped from 38 percent to 36 percent.

On the College Scorecard recently released by the White House, Washington University students had a federal loan default rate of 3.3 percent, which is 10 percentage points below the national average.

Director of Student Financial Services Michael Runiewicz could not be reached for comment.

Sign up for the email edition

Stay up to date with everything happening at Washington University and beyond.

Subscribe