In tough economic times, the University of Wisconsin has again been chosen as a “best value” among public universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, which ranked UW higher than any other Big Ten university.
The magazine ranked UW at 13th in the nation this year, a step up from 14th place last year. According to a UW statement, Kiplinger’s determines the rankings by examining test scores, student to faculty ratios, graduation rates and admission and retention rates.
Sara Goldrick-Rab, associate professor of educational policy studies and sociology, said the recognition shows UW is doing a good job at offering what people see as high value academics – although it doesn’t necessarily mean attending is cheap.
“UW is a state flagship institution designed to provide accessible, affordable, high quality education to Wisconsin residents,” Goldrick-Rab said. “It has to find ways to be and do all of those things – provide a good education at a price point that maintains accessibility.”
Jocelyn Milner, director of academic planning and analysis within the Office of the Provost, said one reason UW continues to be considered a “best value” is because tuition has stayed relatively low compared to other schools, especially when considering institutional aid provided to students.
Milner said this academic year, the total institutional aid from UW is $40 million, compared to $6 million in the 2007-08 academic year.
“Although you do have to account for tuition increase, that’s a huge increase in available financial aid just from the institution that really has helped students,” Milner said.
Goldrick-Rab said with the state of the economy, people are beginning to push back on high prices colleges and universities are charging. People are realizing that a high price does not necessarily denote high quality, she added.
Jane Bennett Clark, senior editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, said in the UW statement that the top schools chosen by the magazine provide strong academics at a reasonable price.
“As states cut funding for higher education and tuition continues to climb, the word ‘value’ becomes more significant than ever,” she said.
She also added that with the recession, it has become even harder for people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to afford a college education.
“The effect is that there’s enormous inequality in who obtains a college degree in this country, and that inequality isn’t justified by anything resembling ‘merit,'” she said.
Looking forward at a recovering economy and the possibility of $46.1 million in cuts to the UW System as proposed by the state Department of Administration, Goldrick-Rab said she does not think cuts will affect the affordability of a UW education, but rather the quality.
“It won’t affect our affordability since we are constrained in our ability to raise tuition due to ethical and pragmatic considerations, but it may affect the quality of some of our academic offerings unless we find ways to deliver an equally high quality education in more efficient ways,” she said.
The details of the rankings will be released in the February issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
