Kiplingers Review Finds UNC Chapel Hill & NC State in Top 10 of the 100 best values in public colleges and universities......

The economy may be recovering, but the effects of the recession continue to buffet the nation’s public colleges and universities. State governments, coping with shrunken tax revenues and an overwhelming demand for services, have cut funding for higher education. Universities that once relied on the income from fat endowments have yet to recoup multimillion-dollar losses to their portfolios. Families continue to apply for financial aid in record numbers. Meanwhile, enrollment at state institutions has spiked as more students go public and more people overall seek college degrees.

The schools in our top 100 best values in public colleges and universities -- led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for overall value and by Binghamton University (SUNY) for out-of-state value -- continue to deliver strong academics at reasonable prices, in many cases by offering the same or more financial aid as in previous years. But no one can say that it has been easy.

UNC -- still the one

Chapel Hill, a consistent winner of Kiplinger’s top honors, maintains its lofty spot in our tables in part for its ability to attract and keep highflying students. Three-fourths or more of its incoming freshmen scored higher than 600 on both the verbal and math portions of their SATs, and almost all -- 96.5% -- stay on after freshman year. This year, Chapel Hill fielded more than 23,000 applications and admitted about 7,400, giving it a competitive 32% admission rate. Almost 20% of the admitted students were the first in their families to attend college.

Besides boasting top students, an outstanding faculty and a historic campus, Chapel Hill enjoys one big advantage over many other public schools: strong state support for financial aid. “Our aid money from the state has grown significantly over the past few years,” says Ort. Although funding was trimmed a bit in the current academic year, she says, “we were still in an improved spot over the previous year.” That support has enabled UNC to protect its financial-aid budget and to maintain its policy of minimizing or eliminating loans from the financial-aid packages for families with need.

Still, financial-aid applications at Chapel Hill jumped 17% this year over last year’s number, which rose 13% over the previous year. Despite the demand, UNC plans to meet the need of every student who walks through its doors, says Thorp. “We’re not going to back away from our traditions in financial aid.”

NC State Moves up from 12 to #10 Position!

And to continue with excellent local public Universities, NC State has grabbed the #10 position!  Outstanding public education, excellent medical care, moderate climate as well as cost of living, makes The Triangle Area a Great Place to call Home!