Two other state schools joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in this year's national affordability rankings published by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

UW-La Crosse and UW-Eau Claire were both named in Kiplinger's list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, with La Crosse coming in at 33rd and Eau Claire taking 65th.

The two schools' reputations continue to rise, especially Eau Claire, whose rating increased four slots this year from 69th in 2006.

"It's always great to be named in some of these publications," said Kris Anderson, UW-Eau Claire's director of admissions. "What's nice about this one is it's not just about academics but also affordability and the ability to combine these two factors."

Anderson said she attributes the ranking to UW-Eau Claire's exceptional value, even though tuition rates have risen across the nation.

"Tuition nationally is going up as well," Anderson said. "When you look at campuses around the nation, Wisconsin colleges still provide quite a bargain."

According to information released by UW-Eau Claire, the ranking depends on the academic quality of the school, while also taking into account the school's tuition rates.

These rankings still depend upon a variety of other factors, though, according to Michael Rindo, executive director of public relations at UW-Eau Claire. He also said the specifics of the selection process remain a mystery to him, but added it was most likely a comparative process.

"I think it's all about how everyone's done relative to us," Rindo said. "And also how we've done relative to other schools across the nation."

UW-La Crosse spokesperson Cary Heyer said the school is proud of its rating and was glad to see the list prove what he had known for some time.

"When you're in such good company on the Kiplinger list, it kind of proves what we've said all along: that we're a campus of choice," Heyer said.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said he was also very happy for the universities, but said the rankings came as no surprise. He said state schools continually provide academic excellence at a price that's reasonable to many.

"Our vision is to have all [our universities] as a destination of choice," Giroux said.

The UW System will continue to provide its students with academic resources, Giroux said. He added that a rise in the schools' reputation will only help to reaffirm that fact.

"It validates that we have 26 jewels in this UW crown," Giroux said. "And we have a number of things we can brag about."