Princeton University in New Jersey takes the top spot in U.S. News and World Report's list of best value schools in the United States.
The private Ivy League research university has a total undergraduate enrollment of 5,391, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 600 acres. More than 58 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $42,097.
Its tuition and fees for the 2014-15 school year are $43,938. The average cost of tuition for students after receiving grants based on need was $16,868.
For the rankings, the U.S. News took into account the school's academic quality, and the 2014-2015 cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal or value.
Another Ivy League school, Harvard University in Massachusetts came in second, and Yale University came in third.
The ratio of quality to price accounted for 60 percent of the overall score; the percentage of all undergraduates receiving need-based grants accounted for 25 percent; and the average discount accounted for 15 percent.
Top 10 Best Value Schools
1) Princeton University
2) Harvard University
3) Yale University
4) Stanford University
5) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6) Columbia University
7) Duke University
8) California Institute of Technology
9) Dartmouth College
10) Brown University
