What are the Best Value Colleges for 2025?

Editorial Staff

The Princeton Review have has posted its 21st annual report naming the nation’s “Best Value Colleges.”

Primarily based on the company’s 2024–2025 survey of administrators at more than 650 institutions across the U.S., The Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges for 2025 report names 209 schools the company designates as “Best Values.” Of the 209 schools, 68 are public institutions, and 141 are private institutions. Nine of the schools are tuition-free.

The criteria for the school selections broadly cover three subjects: academics, affordability, and career outcomes for graduates. More than 40 data points from the survey of administrators as well as surveys of students and of alumni were analyzed in the selection process. Information about the surveys, methodology, and criteria is below.

The report features seven categories of ranking lists, each one separately reporting the top public and the top private colleges in the category.

The main category, “Best Value Colleges Overall,” names the top 50 public and top 50 private institutions.

Best Value Colleges Overall

Public: Georgia Institute of Technology

Private: Princeton University (NJ)

Best Value Colleges for Financial Aid

Public: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Private: Williams College (MA)

Best Value Colleges for Career Placement

Public: Georgia Institute of Technology

Private: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Best Value Colleges for Internships

Public: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

Private: Northeastern University (MA)

Best Value Colleges for Alumni Networks

Public: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor

Private: St Lawrence University (NY)

Best Value Colleges for Making an Impact

Public: University of Vermont

Private: Pitzer College (CA)

Best Value Colleges for Students with No Demonstrated Need

Public: Georgia Institute of Technology

Private: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“The schools on our ‘Best Value Colleges’ lists this year are truly exceptional,” said Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief of The Princeton Review.

“They offer outstanding academics and excellent career services. They also demonstrate extraordinary commitments to affordability via generous financial aid and/or comparatively low sticker prices. We commend them for all that they do to help students afford to attend them and we recommend them highly to college applicants.” Franek noted an encouraging statistic for students considering the schools: “A high percentage (41%) of the colleges that made our lists this year admit 50% or more of their applicants.”

Among the top 50 public “Best Value Colleges for 2025”: