Release

University at Albany Ranked in Top 25 of Nation's Colleges

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 12, 2006) -- Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has ranked the University at Albany the 22nd best public education value for out-of-state students and the 46th best value for in-state students for 2006, based on data provided by more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities. In Kiplinger's 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, schools were ranked for their combination of excellence in academics and affordability.

Included in the criteria for ranking the colleges were:

• The percentage of the 2004-05 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT (or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT)
• Admission rates
• Freshman retention rates
• Student-faculty ratios
• Four- and six-year graduation rates

The magazine also ranked access to financial aid, including total cost for in-state students (tuition, fees, room and board, and books), average cost for a student with need, average percentage of need met by aid, and average debt a student accumulates before graduation.

To calculate out-of-state rankings, Kiplinger's concentrated on academic quality and costs using total out-of-state tuition and expenses and average costs after aid.