Best Value College In America? Depends On Whom You Ask

BERKELEY, CA - Imagine this dilemma on an episode of Family Feud that will probably never air on television:

Game Show Host: "This school was just named the 2016 Best Value College in America."
(BING)
Family One: "Princeton!"
Game Show Host: "Correct!" (APPLAUSE)
(BING)
Family Two: "Berkeley!"
Announcer: "Correct!" ... (CONFUSED APPLAUSE) ...

Apparently, either answer is correct.

So which school is it, Princeton or Berkeley?

Well, it depends on your ... URL.

Two competing American financial publications give their respective readers entirely divergent views this month.

Money Magazine released Money's Best Colleges, an article in which the publication "determined which of the roughly 2,000 four-year U.S. colleges and universities deliver the most value—that is, a great education, at an affordable price, that prepares students for rewarding careers."

According to the publication, schools were ranked on 24 factors in three categories: educational quality, affordability, and alumni success.

At the top of the list was Princeton University.

According to Money:

Princeton University’s generous financial aid makes it, according to MONEY’s analysis, the most affordable member of the Ivy League. The school gives out such large grants to the six in 10 families who qualify (households earning less than $250,000 generally get some aid; those making less than $65,000 get a free ride) that more than 83% of students graduate without any debt.

Slots two and three on Money's list are filled by the University of Michigan and Harvard. UC-Berkeley was ranked fifth, Stanford tenth. Several other University of California schools ranked in the top 20 list.

Concurrently, Forbes released its America's Best Value Colleges 2016, based on very similar criteria. Forbes wondered what schools are worth the six-figure financial investment of a four-year degree.

The publication rated schools based on "tuition costs, school quality, graduation success and post-grad earnings."

At the top of the Forbes list: UC-Berkeley.

Says Forbes about the socially-active school:

With first-class academics, location in the ground zero of the tech boom and consistent ranking as a top public school and best value college, this research university attracts students from around the country and world. Of the school’s 1522 full-time faculty, four hold Pulitzer Prizes, seven hold Nobel Prizes, and 33 are MacArthur Fellows. The school's notable alumni include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt, soccer Olympian Alex Morgan and chef Alice Waters.

UCLA was ranked fourth on the Forbes list, UC-San Diego placed fifth.

Stanford is ranked twelfth, and on this list, Princeton drops to the fourteenth slot.

You can see the Money's Best Colleges report here. America's Best Value Colleges 2016, in Forbes magazine, is found here..

-image of UC-Berkeley via John Morgan/Flickr