Kiplinger’s, BusinessWeek name Richmond to best values and top business schools lists

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has named the University of Richmond to its 2007 list of the 50 “Best Values in Private Universities.” The list ranks private colleges and universities that exemplify outstanding economic values and an exceptional education, according to the magazine’s editors. The rankings appear in the April issue of the magazine.

Also, BusinessWeek magazine has ranked the Robins School of Business one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country for the second year in a row. The Robins School is ranked 23rd—up two spots from last year—on BusinessWeek’s list. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School came in first, followed by the University of Virginia, University of California-Berkeley, Emory University and University of Michigan.

On the Kiplinger’s list, Richmond was ranked 22nd on the private universities list ahead of such schools as Cornell (23), Boston College (24) and Johns Hopkins (25). The top five schools on the private universities list, in order, are California Institute of Technology, Yale, Harvard, Rice and Duke. The top five schools on the magazine’s private liberal arts colleges list, in order, are Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst, Davidson and Pomona.

Selected from a pool of more than 1,000 private institutions, Kiplinger’s ranked the schools into two lists: one for liberal arts colleges, which offer mostly undergraduate programs, and the other for universities, which also offer graduate degrees. The same academic and cost measures were applied to each category. Academic quality accounted for two-thirds of their measurement and affordability for one-third.

To rate each school, Kiplinger’s took into account admission rate, SAT or ACT scores, student-faculty ratio, four-year/ five-year graduation rate, total costs (including tuition, fees, room and board), cost after need-based aid, aid from grants, cost after non-need-based aid, and average debt at graduation. 

“This ranking affirms that the University of Richmond offers a world-class education and provides generous financial aid support to make it affordable,” said President Bill Cooper.

Through scholarships, grants, loans and other resources, over 65 percent of Richmond undergraduate students receive some type of financial aid. Richmond is one of fewer than 40 American universities to guarantee a need-blind admissions review and a commitment to meeting 100 percent of the financial need demonstrated by its U.S. undergraduates. The university also recently expanded its aid for international students and merit scholarship program and introduced a new financial aid program for Virginia students from low-income families.

For a complete list of the rankings and additional information on methodology and other specifics, visit www.kiplinger.com.

BusinessWeek ranked the Robins School as fourth best in the nation for academic quality and awarded it high marks for teaching quality (A+), facilities (A) and job placement (A).

“We are very pleased that the Robins School continues to be rated by our students and corporate recruiters as one of the top business schools in the country,” said Jorge Haddock, the school’s dean. “This ranking reflects the superb quality of our students, faculty and staff.”

To identify the best undergraduate business programs, BusinessWeek conducted a survey of nearly 80,000 business majors at top schools and a poll of undergraduate recruiters. The magazine also looked at starting salaries for graduates and how many each school sent to top M.B.A. programs. Finally, an academic quality score—a combination of five measures including average SAT scores and faculty-student ratios—identified schools with the smartest, hardest-working and best-served students.

The ranking is based on the “index number,” which represents the sum of all five ranking measures. The magazine also calculated letter grades on teaching quality, facilities and services, and job placement based on the student survey. For a complete list of the rankings and additional information on BusinessWeek’s methodology, visit the BusinessWeek Web site.