Washington & Lee ranks No. 4 on best values list

Published December 19, 2014 by Jessica Sabbath

Washington & Lee University ranked in the No. 4 spot of Kiplinger’s annual list of Best College Values rankings, and ranked No. 2 on its list of liberal arts colleges.

Total annual cost of attending Washington & Lee is $58,062, with the total cost after need-based aid averaging $18,212.

For the first year, Kiplinger’s provided a combined ranking of best values at public and private colleges. On Kiplinger’s list of best values for liberal arts colleges, Washington & Lee ranked No. 2 behind Swarthmore College.

The combined list used the out-of-state tuition for public schools, while the public colleges list ranked in-state costs.

The University of Virginia secured the No. 2 spot on Kiplinger’s list of best values at public colleges and landed in the No. 42 spot on Kiplinger’s new combined list.

Four of Virginia’s colleges ranked in the top 100 of Kiplinger’s combined list for best values. In addition to Washington & Lee’s No. 4 ranking, the University of Richmond ranked No. 18, University of Virginia No. 42 and the College of William & Mary was No. 62.

Kiplinger’s list ranks colleges on the level of education and affordability. The list measures admission rate, test scores and student-to-faculty ration to determine a quality score. The  financial side measures tuition as well as need-based aid.

Here is how Virginia schools fell in the rankings (those in top 100 are the only ones included.)

Combined list

No. 4: Washington & Lee University, Lexington
$58,062 total cost per year
$39,850 average need-based aid

No. 18: University of Richmond, Richmond
$58,570 total cost per year
$36,192 average need-based aid

No. 42: University of Virginia, Charlottesville
$53,706 total cost per year (out-of-state)
$18,635 average need-based aid

No. 62: College of William & Mary, Williamsburg
$50,954 total cost per year (out-of-state)
$13,417 average need-based aid

Liberal arts colleges

No. 2 Washington & Lee University
$58,062 total cost per year
$39,850 average need-based aid

No. 10 University of Richmond
$58,570 total cost per year
$36,192 average need-based aid

No. 57: Christendom College, Front Royal
$33,100 total cost per year
$7,924 average need-based aid

Public colleges (based on in-state tuition)

No. 2 University of Virginia, Charlottesville
$24,520 (in-state) total cost per year
$5,885 cost after need-based aid

No. 7 College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
$29,250 in-state total cost per year
$15,833 cost after need-based aid

No. 21 James Madison University, Harrisonburg
$19,366  in-state total cost per year
$11,806 cost after need-based aid

No. 26 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
$21,071  in-state total cost per year
$14,583 cost after need-based aid

No. 89 Christopher Newport University, Newport News
$23,178 in-state total cost per year
$17,499 cost after need-based aid

No. 92 University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg
$22,326 in-state total cost per year
$15,155 cost after need-based aid