UF was recently ranked again as a top-value and top-academic university nationwide.
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine named UF the third-best value in large colleges nationwide, as well as in the southeast. UF is the largest college ranked in the top 10 universities.
The rankings are based on academic quality and affordability, low student-faculty ratios, high graduation rates, reasonable price tags and financial aid, according to Kiplinger’s website.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said he thinks the student-loan debt criteria of the ranking stands out the most.
“Consider that two-thirds of UF students graduate with no student-loan debt,” he said. “Nationally, it’s just the opposite.”
The average UF student carries about $20,700 in student-loan debt, and the national average is more than $29,000, he said.
Eliza Barrocas, a 19-year-old UF family, youth and community sciences sophomore, said she agreed that UF gives students the best education for their dollar.
“It’s nice to know that you are getting your money’s worth and that my degree will hold some weight when I graduate,” she said.
In addition to being recognized for value, UF was also ranked “Most Academic” in CollegeAtlas.org’s rankings of more than 1,300 U.S. colleges and universities.
The list is based on three factors: affordability, academic quality and accessibility.
CollegeAtlas.org created two lists detailing the top 100 schools based on both in-state and out-of-state tuition, said Branden Neish, the general manger of CollegeAtlas.org and creator of the list.
On the in-state tuition list, UF was ranked No. 96. UF was not ranked on the out-of-state tuition list.
Looking at the two lists, CollegeAtlas.org gave awards to the top schools in each list that are the best at one single attribute in February. For the top 10 most academic schools from the in-state tuition list, UF ranked No. 1.
It used U.S. News & World Report’s Best College Rankings to assess the academic standing of each institution.
“We wanted to create a list that is actually relevant and applicable for most students,” Neish said.
The three factors of affordability, accessibility and academics are important to Elizabeth DiVito, a 19-year-old UF international studies and political science sophomore.
“I ultimately chose to go to UF after I was admitted because of its notable academic reputation,” DiVito said. “As great as it was to get in though, I never would’ve been able to go if it wasn’t affordable.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/11/2014 under the headline "UF tops the charts in something other than basketball"]
