AU ranked number 52 on Kiplinger’s list of Top 100 Best Values in Private Colleges in its October issue of Personal Finance magazine.
The rankings were based on academic quality and affordability guidelines, with quality accounting for two-thirds of the score, according to the December issue of the magazine.
Quality measures include admission rates, test scores and graduation rates. Affordability measures include tuition, fees, room and board and financial aid.
Kiplinger reported that AU gives an average of $13,290 in need-based aid to students and that AU gives an average of $18,412 in non-need-based aid. The total annual cost of attending AU is $51,176, according to Kiplinger’s report.
Non-need-based aid goes to 30 percent of undergraduate students at AU, according to the report.
The report does not state the amount of students who receive need-based aid. College Board reports that on average, 93 percent of need is met at AU.
Among other D.C. schools, Georgetown University ranked number 24 on the list, and George Washington University came in at number 41.
Princeton University was at number one, despite giving little non-need-based aid. Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., came in above AU, at number 51. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., ranked number 53.
Among D.C. colleges, AU students graduated with the second most average debt, with an average of $40,966 in student debt after graduation, more than the average debt for Georgetown University and George Washington University students, The Eagle previously reported.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
