Swarthmore Tops Kiplinger's Best Value in Private Colleges List
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Swarthmore College has been named the number one Best Value in Private Colleges in the December issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
The primary factors considered in the ratings were academic quality and affordability, as measured by admission rate, graduation rate, total cost, cost after need-based aid, aid from grants, cost after non-need-based aid, non-need-based aid, and average debt at graduation.
"It is a tribute to Swarthmore's ongoing pursuit of excellence, creativity and flexibility that it has been chosen again by Kiplinger's Personal Finance to head its list for Best Value in Private Colleges. It is to Swarthmore's credit that it is able to deliver what Kiplinger's sees as the best value to a group of students chosen according to the College's uncompromisingly high standards in the current economic environment and in competition with many other larger and better endowed institutions," says Henry Edelman, chair of the Parents Council. He adds "When I am on campus I can stop and talk to any 'Swattie' and invariably be met by not only a quick intellect, but also a thoughtful and socially responsible young adult."
Swarthmore admits domestic students without regard to their ability to pay for their education, maintaining a need-blind admission policy. The College's financial aid awards are granted to meet the full value of each family's demonstrated financial need without loan.
The Princeton Review has also recognized Swarthmore, ranking it first among its 100 "Best Value Colleges" two years in a row. The Princeton Review noted that Swarthmore students ranked the school highest in levels of satisfaction with financial aid award packages.