CSU more affordable than CU

Despite this year’s tuition increases, CSU was recently ranked

27 in the nation for value and quality in Kiplinger’s Personal

Finance Magazine’s yearly list of the 100 Best Values in Public

Colleges.

CSU was ranked 22 spots higher this year than last.

“I think it’s a very good ranking. I feel very excited that we

have that ranking because it represents significant improvement

over last time,” said Provost/Academic Vice President Peter

Nicholls.

To develop the annual rankings, Kiplinger’s narrows the list

down to the top 100 public colleges in the country based on

entrance exam results, admission rates, student-faculty ratio and

many other factors.

The top schools are then ranked using a formula with a

two-thirds emphasis on quality and a one-third emphasis on

value.

CSU was the second-highest ranked Colorado university on the

list behind the Colorado School of Mines, which was ranked 25. The

University of Colorado-Boulder placed 43.

Recently, CSU was also ranked 55 in the nation by U.S. News

World and Report’s “Best Colleges Edition” and the National Science

Foundation put CSU in the top five percent of private and public

universities for receiving federal research support in engineering

and the sciences.

“You take (the ratings) as a whole and you’d be hard-pressed not

to conclude CSU is one of the best universities in the country,”

said CSU spokesman Tom Milligan. “Our focus has to be on providing

the best quality education possible, not on rankings, but it’s nice

when these rankings collectively confirm what we already know about

the quality of a CSU education and the value of a CSU degree.”

Nicholls agreed that the quality of education at CSU is very

high.

“It’s a very friendly place. The faculty and staff really care

about the students,” he said. “We have so many nationally

recognized programs and when students come here, they get the

opportunity to work with professors who are leaders in their

disciplines and work on research projects in their disciplines.

It’s a very welcoming place.”

Milligan believes the high rankings CSU has been receiving are

due in part to the university’s dedicated faculty.

“That really is a reflection of the quality of our faculty,” he

said. “All of this stems from the very hard-working and very

talented faculty that we’re lucky to have here at CSU.”

In general, some students agree that the education they are

receiving at CSU is of very high quality.

“I get a good education. The professors are friendly and

knowledgeable,” said Severen McGowan, a sophomore psychology

major.

Darby Harrison, junior fashion and merchandising major, agreed

that the education she receives at CSU is first-rate, but she

thinks it is too expensive.

“I think it’s a good education but it’s overpriced,” she

said.

However, Nicholls said the tuition rates at CSU are better than

most other schools in the state.

“Our tuition rates are very competitive,” he said. “We have seen

a lot of large tuition raises at other schools and not to the same

extent at CSU.”

Milligan thinks the quality at CSU will continue to improve and

that the school will keep receiving high rankings.

“The level of fundraising is at an all-time high. Research

support seems to be breaking records every day. The quality of

students seems to be going up with every class. The quality of the

faculty as measured by publication in research journals and

scholarly pursuits seems to be improving,” Milligan said.

Nicholls said he hopes to see CSU’s ranking continue to rise in

years to come.

“We’re going to keep working as hard as we possibly can to get

an even better rating next time and we’re going to do that by

improving the quality even more,” he said.

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Ideas for pull quote: “You’d be hard pressed not to conclude CSU

is one of the best universities in the country.” –Milligan

Idea for box: To view Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine’s

yearly list of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, visit

www.kiplinger.com.