BOONE—Appalachian State University is ranked 29th in the nation in Kiplinger magazine’s 2008-09 list of the top 100 values in public colleges and universities in the nation. The ranking is based on the in-state cost of attending the university.
UNC Chapel Hill tops the list at No. 1. Other North Carolina public schools on the list are N.C. State University (18), UNC Wilmington (25), UNC Asheville (43) and UNC Greensboro (98).

Kiplinger’s college rankings are based on a combination of outstanding academic quality and an affordable price tag.

Appalachian’s in-state costs were listed by the magazine at just over $11,000. The university was ranked 27th in terms of an out-of-state cost of $21,252.

In terms of cost, the magazine considered the total cost for in-state students (tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and estimated expenses for books), average cost for a student with financial need after subtracting grants (but not loans), average cost for a student without need after subtracting non-need-based grants, average percentage of need met by aid (need-based assistance) and average debt a student accumulates before graduation.

According to the magazine’s Web site, the rankings also considered the percentage of the 2008-09 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT (or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT), admission rates, freshman retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four- and six-year graduation rates, which most schools reported for the student cohort entering in 2002.

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