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发信人: Landau (Dau), 信区: Tsinghua
标  题: How to explain Best Value Ranking
发信站: 紫丁香 (Thu Aug 13 20:29:32 1998), 转信

【以下文字转载自 Flyingoverseas 讨论区】
【原文由 magic 所发表】
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发信人: myosotis (飞飞), 信区: AdvancedEdu
标  题: How to explain Best Value Ranking
发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Tue Sep 23 15:16:10 1997)

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              Methodology
              More Best Value Rankings | Frequently Asked Questions
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Getting your money's worth
Because you are about to make an investment that should pay divdends for
a lifetime, you want to figure out which schools will give you the best
return. This is no easy task. To assist you, U.S. News has developed
ways to identify the best values. (In our basic rankings, we identify
schools that excel in academic quality without regard to cost.)

One approach we have developed uses an equation that relates a school's
quality ranking to its cost--covering tuition, room and board, fees and
personal expenses--once financial aid data is taken into account. (The
cost data are based on the 1996-97 academic year.) The higher the
quality and lower the cost, the better the value.

Only the top quarter of regional institutions and the top half of
national institutions in the quality rankings are considered because
U.S. News believes that the best values are found among colleges that
are above average academically. (Schools that charge no tuition are not
included.) The "Best Values" appear here.

We use a different method to identify schools that rate relatively high
in educational quality, as determined by their place in the U.S. News
rankings, but spend relatively less money to achieve quality. The
schools that rank highest on this measure are listed here.

At a time when student debt is setting records, we also think it is
valuable to provide lists of schools whose graduates leave school owing
the least--and the most--in loans. These lists appear here. Debt
information for most schools is in the directory.

The Rankings
Discount price: These rankings were based on three variables:

   1. Ratio of quality to price. A school's quality ranking--as
      determined by its overall score in the America's Best Colleges
      survey--was divided by the cost to an average student at a school
      who receives a grant meeting his or her financial need (as
      determined by the school). The higher the ratio of quality rank to
      the discounted cost, the better the value.
   2. Percentage of all undergraduates receiving grants meeting financial
      need during the 1996-97 academic year.
   3. The percentage of a school's total costs (tuition, required fees,
      room and board, books and personal expenses) covered by the average
      need-based grant to undergraduates.

Overall rank was determined by converting the scores achieved by every
school in each of the three variables into percentiles. The highest
score on each of the variables was valued at 100 percent. The scores for
the other schools were then taken as a percentage of this top score. The
first variable--the ratio of quality to price--accounted for 60 percent
of the overall score, the percentage of all undergraduates receiving
grants accounted for 25 percent of the score, and the average discount
accounted for 15 percent. The weighted numbered ranks for each school
were totaled. The school with the fewest total weighted points became
No. 1 in its category. Next, its score was converted into a percentile
of 100. The scores for the other schools were then converted into a
percentage of that achieved by the No. 1 school and ranked in descending
order.
Note: In the case of public institutions, out-of-state tuition and
grants meeting need received by out-of-state students in the 1996-97
school year were used.

Debt load--class of '96. Many graduates have to pay off large debts
incurred while in school. U.S. News has compiled a list of the
institutions whose 1996 graduates left school with the largest and
smallest average debt loads. The data includes loans taken out by
students from colleges, financial institutions, and federal, state, and
local governments. Loans taken out in parents' names are not included.

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    Questions about the financial aid rankings? See our list of FAQs.
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        � 1997 U.S. News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved.

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