FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The University of Arkansas was named one of the 77 best values in higher education in the debut edition of the Princeton Review,s "America’s Best Value Colleges." The book serves as a supplement to the Princeton Review’s annual publication, "The Best 351 Colleges," and uses data compiled from the 2002-03 academic year.

"The Princeton Review has a reputation for selecting institutions that exhibit a dedication to high academic standards," Chancellor John A. White said. "Being named among the 77 most affordable institutions of higher learning gives strong evidence that our students and their families are getting more than their money,s worth from Arkansas, flagship public research university."

"America’s Best Value Colleges" uses three primary categories to determine the 77 best values in higher education: academic rating, financial aid rating and "tuition GPA," which is the combination of an institution’s tuition, fees, room and board minus the average gift (scholarships and grants) awarded.

Author Eric Owens says, "Of the 351 schools we performed this computation on [those featured in 'The Best 351 Colleges’], the 77 schools in the book stood out as the very best academic values. We thought we would research them to find out how they are able to provide such a fabulous education at such a reasonable price."

The U of A joins Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky and the University of Mississippi among Southeastern Conference institutions named in "America,s Best Value Colleges." Other regional institutions named include the University of Oklahoma, the University of Kansas, Texas A&M and the University of Texas-Austin.

In his description of the U of A, Owens says, "Seven undergraduate divisions work hard to prepare the largely pre-professional student population in such areas as agriculture, food sciences, business and administration, education, and engineering.

"Professors are quite good and are readily available outside of the classroom," Owens added. "Administrators make themselves ready to help as well."

With tuition increases becoming commonplace on college campuses, Owens says, "During the 2002-03 academic year tuition rose only 7 percent, below the 9.6 percent average for public universities nationwide and considerably below the double-digit increases enacted by several other flagship public universities to compensate for state funding cuts (i.e., 14.6 percent at Clemson, 19.4 percent at Iowa State, and 22 percent at South Carolina)."

"We are continuing to see the strides the university is making to include itself in the upper echelon of American institutions," said Bob Smith, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. "Even in this difficult economic time, when funding for higher education remains an uncertainty, the University of Arkansas remains one of the best values for students pursuing quality in higher education."

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