Pitt Named a “Best Value College” by The Princeton Review and USA TODAY for Fourth Consecutive Year

The University of Pittsburgh is the only Pennsylvania public college or university included in The Princeton Review’s annual “Best Value Colleges” list, released Jan. 28. This is the fourth consecutive year that the education services company has included Pitt among its “Best Value Colleges.”

The 2014 list identifies 150 colleges nationwide (75 public and 75 private) that The Princeton Review designates as “Best Value Colleges” based on assessments of institutions’ academics, cost, and financial aid. The company chose the 150 schools based on surveys conducted in 2012-13 of 2,000 undergraduate institutions. The company also analyzed student survey data collected during the past three academic years.

“These rankings confirm once again that the high quality of our educational programs is recognized across the country,” Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg said. “Our position as a best value university also is clearly reflected in the dramatic increase in applications for admission to Pitt and in the rapidly rising test scores and class rank of our entering freshmen. What draws these hardworking, high-achieving students is the return on investment that is delivered through the exceptional opportunities for learning and growth associated with a University of Pittsburgh education.”

The Princeton Review report follows a separate ranking by Kiplinger, which also placed Pitt as a top value among all public colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. That ranking is available in the February 2014 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

The Princeton Review’s “Best Value Colleges” list appears on the websites of The Princeton Review and USA TODAY and in a companion book, The Best Value Colleges: The 150 Best-Buy Schools and What it Takes to Get In, also released in January.

In its profile of Pitt, The Princeton Review says that students describe the University as being “known for its ‘wide variety of quality academic programs.’” In addition, students “seem to hold their fellow students in great esteem saying not only that they’re ‘friendly,’ but also that they ‘know how to work hard.’”

The list of “Best Value Colleges” is a project that The Princeton Review originated in 2004 and has reported on with USA TODAY since 2009. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is a privately held education services company headquartered in Framingham, Mass., and is not affiliated with Princeton University. The company offers test preparation services, tutoring and admissions resources, online courses, and more than 150 print and digital books published by Random House.