Princeton Review recognizes Clemson University as a best value
February 7, 2012
CLEMSON, SC – February 7, 2012 – Clemson University is one of the nation’s 75 best values in publiccolleges and universities, according to the “The Princeton Review BestValue Colleges for 2012,” announced Tuesday by The Princeton Review and USA TODAY.
Chuck Knepfle, Clemson’s financial aid director, was pleased, but not surprised.
“Whilehardly a surprise, it is fitting to see Clemson recognized as one ofthe best values in higher education,” said Knepfle. “In addition to thegenerous state scholarships available to South Carolina residents, theamount of scholarship dollars available to incoming students hasincreased significantly over time. We will increase gift aid to our fallenrollees by well over $3 million.”
The additional $3 million in scholarship aid results from the current Clemson University The Will to Lead Capital Campaign, in which more than 300 scholarships and fellowships have been established.
Current average in-state tuition and fees at Clemson are $12,304 and out-of-state are $28,462.
In its profile of Clemson on USA TODAY’s Web site, The PrincetonReview editors stated that students “are especially bullish on thescholarships the university offers.” They quote a student as saying,The value is unbeatable.”
Students also “have high opinions of the Clemson faculty,” accordingto the profile. Another student is quoted as saying, I feel like myacademic experience is extremely dynamic, and I truly enjoy going toclass. More than half of the classes at Clemson have fewer than 20students, so professors get to know their students and exploreinnovative ways of teaching.
In a section titled “Bang for yourBuck,” editors reference the opportunities Clemson provides for studentsto apply classroom learning to real-life situations “while makinginvaluable contacts in the field they have chosen to pursue.Subsequently this makes them strong contenders in today’s job market.”
Thelist features 150 schools — 75 public and 75 private colleges anduniversities. Of the 75 schools in each category, the top 10 are rankedand the remaining 65 are listed in alphabetical order and unranked.
ThePrinceton Review selected the institutions as its best value choicesfor 2012 after analyzing data collected from an initial list of 650institutions it identified as having excellent academics.
More than 30 data points were assessed across three primary areas:academics, the cost of attendance and financial aid. Cost and financialaid data came from the company’s fall 2011 surveys of schooladministrators. Data on academics came from its fall 2010 through fall2011 surveys of school administrators. The Princeton Review alsofactored in data from surveys of students attending the schools whoshared assessments of their professors and their satisfaction with theirfinancial aid awards.
We recommend these extraordinarycolleges as our ‘best buys’ for 2012 and salute them for all they aredoing to keep costs down and/or offer generous aid to applicants withfinancial need, said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior vicepresident, publisher and lead author of its Best Value Colleges book.
Weappreciate the deep concerns families have about affording college:among the 12,000 teen and parent respondents to our 2011 ‘College Hopes& Worries Survey,’ 86 percent reported financial aid would be ‘verynecessary’ for them to pay for college, he said.
