By John Staed

Monday, January 4, 2010

The University of South Carolina is ranked 32nd and Clemson University 33rd nationally for “Best Values in Public Colleges,” according to the February issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

The magazine put the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the best value. The University of Georgia was ranked sixth, Georgia Tech 15th, University of North Carolina-Asheville 44th, and University of Tennessee 58th.

The magazine’s criteria are based “on a combination of academics and affordability,” it reported.

“We narrow the list to about 120 schools based on measures of academic quality — including SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates,” according to the magazine.

The schools are then ranked on the basis of cost and financial aid. The magazine said it also focuses on “traditional four-year schools with broad-based curricula.”

The schools on the list provide affordable education but without skimping on academics, the magazine said.

Most public colleges have faced state cuts, Kiplinger’s reported.

“To cope with less money and more students, public institutions … have slashed operating costs and raised tuition beyond the average increase of about 5 percentage points over inflation in recent years,” Kiplinger reported.

Both USC and Clemson were forced last year to deal with major state cuts and both raised tuition, among other steps.

USC, with nearly 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled last year, had 18 students per faculty member and 67 percent graduating by the sixth year, according to the magazine. In-state costs to attend USC were $17,420, and $13,052 after aid, and students carried an average $21,315 in debt upon graduation, Kiplinger’s reported.

USC had 44 percent of its freshmen score 600 or higher on the SAT and 54 percent score 25 or higher on the ACT, according to the magazine. At Clemson, 51 percent of freshmen scored 600 or higher on the SAT and 71 percent scored 24 or higher on the ACT.

Georgia, with more than 25,000 undergraduates, had 18 students per faculty member, and 80 percent graduating by the sixth year. In-state tuition costs were $16,636 and $9,718 after aid. Student debt upon graduation was an average $14,343. Some 58 percent of freshman scored 600 or higher on their SAT and 62 percent scored 24 or higher on their ACT.

At Clemson, with nearly 15,000 undergraduates, there were 14 students per faculty member, and 79 percent graduated by the sixth year, it reported. In-state costs to attend were $19,174, and averaged $15,034 after aid. The average debt carried by a Clemson student at graduation was $17,556, Kiplinger’s reported.