'Berg Named One of Best Values in Private Colleges
Muhlenberg College has been ranked number 43 on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of Best Values in Private Colleges.Wednesday, October 26, 2011 09:58 AM
Kiplinger annually combines the quality and affordability of private colleges across the nation to create lists of the 200 private universities and liberal arts colleges with the highest value.
Kiplinger’s list focuses on strong academics and great economic value, but a number of factors go into the rankings. These factors include cost and financial aid, competitiveness, the graduation rate, academic support and student indebtedness. “The institutions on Kiplinger’s rankings for best value in private colleges represent schools that provide high-quality academics as well as affordable cost even in these tough times,” said Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Associate Editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “With money tight and the college choice so important, you have every reason to expect the best bang for your buck.”
Muhlenberg College is a private, highly selective, four-year liberal arts college located in Allentown, Pa. The College prides itself on the deep sense of community present on campus, close student-faculty relationships and collaboration, small classes and great outcomes in terms of graduate school and entry-level career placement. ‘Berg aims for its graduates to be knowledgeable about diverse cultures, to be able to express ideas with clarity and grace and to be committed to life-long learning. Muhlenberg offers 40 majors and a number of popular pre-professional programs. An effective indicator of students’ happiness, the retention rate of the College—the percentage of first year students who choose to return for their sophomore year—is a very high 93%.
As for affordability, the goal of Muhlenberg’s Office of Financial Aid is simply to provide access to the College. It strives to provide as much need-based and non-need-based aid as possible. The average need-based financial aid package is currently $21,617 while the average non-need-based award is $10,279. Approximately 70% of students have some type of financial aid.
The annual Kiplinger top-100 rankings appear in Kiplinger’s December issue—on newsstands November 8. Kiplinger’s Web site (www.kiplinger.com/links/college) includes the answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding the annual rankings.
