Kiplinger’s magazine named Mississippi State as one of the 100 “best value” public colleges in the nation for its 2007 list. The only other Mississippi college selected for the latest list is Mississippi University for Women.MSU President Robert “Doc” Foglesong said he was pleased with the university’s rank considering the magazine’s criteria.
The article on the Kiplinger’s Web site ranks MSU 87th in total cost for in-state students and ranks it 82nd in total cost for out-of-state students. The ranking for MSU is up from 93rd in total in-state costs in 2006.
According to the article, student costs included tuition, mandatory fees, housing and books. More than 500 public four-year colleges and universities submitted financial data to Peterson’s, a division of finance and education services company Nelnet, according to the article.
Researchers for Kiplinger’s added to the data provided by Peterson’s and narrowed the list to about 120 schools.
The primary deciding factor for high-ranking schools was academic quality, which consists of admission rates, freshman retention rates, four- and six-year graduation rates and student-to-faculty ratios.
Academic quality also includes the percentage of the 2005-2006 freshman class scoring at least a 24 on the ACT or at least a 600 on the verbal and math sections of the SAT.
According to Kiplinger’s statistics, MSU placed 46th in the ACT and SAT component and 14th on the student-to-faculty ratio component.
MSU has a 69 percent admission rate, a 25.1 percent four-year graduation rate and a 55.9 percent six-year graduation rate.
After considering academic quality, the magazine ranked schools based on cost and financial aid.
According to the article, researchers looked at total cost for in-state students, average costs for students needing aid, average costs for students who did not need aid, average percentage of need met and the average amount of debt accumulated by students before graduation.
Kiplinger’s statistics show that the total in-state cost is $11,877, reduced to $8,397 after aid. The total out-of-state cost is $17,833, reduced to $14,353 after aid. The percentage met by aid is 70 percent, and $18,230 is the average debt at graduation.
MSU director of admissions and scholarships Phil Bonfanti said the university’s national recognition will bring positive feedback.
“This puts a spotlight on us and says we have good quality academic programs,” he said. “It also says we’re affordable.”
Bonfanti said Mississippi State has more students who are Mississippi residents than any other school in Mississippi, which could influence out-of-state residents to consider the university.
Freshman horiculture major Melanie Ament, said scholarships and the out-of-state waiver were reasons for her decision to attend Mississippi State.
She said the overall cost seems fair, adding that they include use of the Sanderson Center and resident halls.
“I think it’s really nice that you have all the facilities you can use,” Ament said.
Haley Warner, a freshman physical education major, also said she came to MSU because of the out-of-state waiver.
Two-thirds of a school’s rank were determined by academic quality.
Academic quality scores and average debt at graduation were used as tiebreakers among the schools, according to Kiplinger’s article.
Out of the 12 Southeastern Conference schools, nine placed in the top 100. Vanderbilt University, a private university, was not eligible and the Universities of Mississippi and the Kentucky did not make the top 100.
In the 2007 in-state costs criteria, Mississippi State placed lower than five SEC schools: the Universities of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.
Mississippi State ranked higher than Auburn University and the University of Tennessee in 2007 for out-of-state values.
John Forde, associate professor and head of the communication department, said the placement leads to important perceptions about the university.
“You can go most anywhere with a degree from here,” Forde said. “The alumni I talk to from our department tend to be very pleased with their degrees and feel that they are prepared for careers and/or graduate school.”
Foglesong said Kiplinger’s gives Mississippi State national publicity and that being a part of the top 100 sets the university apart from its peers.
“It reconfirmed our motto for being the people’s university,” he said. “We’re accessible.