Brigham Young University has been ranked the second-best value in American private higher education after BYU-Hawaii by "Consumers Digest" magazine.
The rankings, published in the magazine's June issue, examined 3,500 schools using a formula that blended academic excellence of first-time freshman at a school (standardized test scores, high-school rank, grade-point average) with the institution's educational quality (student-to-faculty ratio, graduation rate, percentage of faculty holding a doctorate or terminal degree).
That "value-index" score was factored with the estimated cost of attending each school to determine which schools offered the most academic value per dollar.
Among public institutions, Oklahoma State University ranked first.
The magazine's publisher, Randy Weber, says that the price of attending a university or college often exceeds $20,000 per year.
"Our analysis was done to help families make an informed decision that puts their hard-earned money to the best use."
