UMass Amherst Named One of Princeton Review’s 2024 “Best Value Colleges”

Source: UMass News and Media

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected for inclusion in The Princeton Review’s 2024 guide of the nation’s “Best Value Colleges,” and places in the Top 50 Best Value Colleges ranking for public schools.

The Princeton Review, a leading tutoring, test preparation and college admissions services company, names UMass Amherst among the institutions in its 20th edition of “The Best Value Colleges” list, which was released on June 20. All of the 209 un-ranked schools in the guide score exceptionally in three main areas: academics, affordable cost of attendance and/or generous financial aid, and strong career prospects for its graduates.

The 134 private and 75 public schools were chosen based on The Princeton Review’s surveys of administrators at 650 colleges between the fall 2023 and spring 2024 and weighted more than 40 data points on the schools’ academic offerings, cost, financial aid, career services, graduation rates and student debt.

While The Princeton Review does not rank the schools in the overall Best Value Colleges guide, it does provide rankings in seven categories. In the Top 50 Best Value Colleges (Public Schools) category, UMass Amherst earns a return on investment (ROI) rating that places it at No. 50, one of only two New England public institutions to make the category’s list.

For its ROI assessment, The Princeton Review also factored in data from its surveys of enrolled students and PayScale.com’s surveys of alumni about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction.

More information about the guide, including the Best Value Colleges methodology and its ROI rating criteria, can be found on The Princeton Review website.