A top pick for value and academic quality

The University of Delaware is ranked 13th nationally in the 2006 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine survey of the 100 best values among public institutions of higher education for in-state students. UD ranks just behind the University of California Berkeley and just ahead of the University of California Los Angeles in the Kiplinger’s survey, which rates the universities based on academic quality, cost and financial aid.

Also, UD was rated 11th as a best value for out-of-state students, just behind the University of Georgia and just ahead of the University of Texas at Austin.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance uses a rigorous quantitative ranking system to identify schools where students can receive an excellent education without graduating with a mountain of debt, a magazine spokesperson said. He said schools that made the top 100 keep costs down through creative financing, such as university-branded apparel and private fund raising. UD recently completed its first comprehensive fund-raising drive, the Campaign for Delaware, which raised more than $431 million, much of it for scholarships.

“The entire campus community should be pleased by this affirmation of the great value of a University of Delaware education,” Provost Dan Rich said.