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Home > Featured Stories > Community of Scholars > January 2009 > Bang for the BuckBang for the Buck
Providing access to a high-quality education is what we do. It is NC State's mission and a founding principle.
Chancellor James L. Oblinger
John Cavanagh and Christian Melander (right) discuss a recent discovery in a Polk Hall lab.
North Carolina State University continues to receive accolades for providing a high-quality, affordable education. On Thursday, NC State was named to Princeton Review's list of the nation's "Best Value Colleges" for 2009.
"I believe the best value rankings point to the quality that is here at NC State," Chancellor James Oblinger said. "By comparison to colleges and universities across the country, our tuition is a bargain. But without the quality side of the equation there is no 'best value' in low tuition."
In this academic year, NC State has been named to the best value lists published by US News and Kiplinger. The university typically is highly ranked annually by both publications, as well as Princeton Review.
"Providing access to a high-quality education is what we do. It is NC State's mission and a founding principle." Oblinger said. "In real terms, these rankings mean our students get an affordable quality education and graduate with a diploma that means something in the labor market. That's the real definition of value."
In rankings released Thursday by The Princeton Review and USA Today, NC State is listed as the "#6 Best Value Public College" in the nation, based upon institutional data and student opinion surveys collected from the fall of 2007 through fall of 2008 (including but not limited to undergraduate academics, costs and financial aid.)
"We have always believed finding the 'best fit' college should be the foremost goal for student applicants and their families," said Robert Franek, Princeton Review VP-Publisher. "But the economic crisis and financial downturn have presented sobering challenges both to families struggling to afford college and to higher education institutions struggling to maintain their programs in the face of budget and funding shortfalls."
NC State has fared well in other Review rankings, including the "Green College" list, the nation's 25 Most Connected Campuses, a Best Southeastern College as well as a College with a Conscience – alluding to the university's exemplary public service programs both on and off campus.
The Princeton Review is a New York City-based education services company known for its annual rankings based on surveys conducted of higher education institutions and of students attending the schools, in addition to its test-prep courses, college and graduate school admission services, books, and education programs.
