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- by  Abby Weingarten
New College of Florida continues to be one of the nation’s top colleges for students seeking a superb education with great career preparation at an affordable price, according to The Princeton Review.

The leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company has named New College a “Best Value College” for 2022. This is the 16th year that New College has made this list.

“We are so proud that New College has continued to be part of this prestigious list for the past 16 years,” said New College of Florida President Patricia Okker, Ph.D. “New College is absolutely an incredible ‘Best Value College.’ In fact, 60 percent of our students graduate debt-free. We offer an exceptional education at an affordable price, and we’re grateful that The Princeton Review continues to recognize that.”

A total of 209 colleges were selected this year, based on data the company collected from its surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in the 2020-2021 school year.

“The schools we chose as our ‘Best Value Colleges’ for 2022 are a select group: they comprise only about 7 percent of the nation’s four-year undergraduate institutions,” said Rob Franek, the editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. “We commend their administrators, faculties, staff, and alumni for all they are doing to educate their students and guide them to success in their careers. These colleges are also exceptional for the generous amount of financial aid they award to students with need and/or for their comparatively low cost of attendance.”

The Princeton Review crunched more than 40 data points to tally Return on Investment (ROI) ratings of the colleges. Topics covered everything from academics, career placement services and financial aid to graduation rates and student debt.

“When we launched our ‘Best Value Colleges’ project in 2004, paying for college was a daunting challenge for many students and parents,” Franek said. “Our annual College Hopes & Worries Survey, which we debuted in 2003, had revealed deep concerns about college affordability. We have seen those concerns rise every year since.”

Among the respondents to the 2022 survey (more than 14,100 college applicants and parents of applicants), 80 percent said that financial aid would be “very” or “extremely” necessary to pay for college, and that their biggest worry was the “level of debt” to pay for the degree, Franek said.

“However, 99 percent of our respondents said they believe college is ‘worth it.’ We agree,” Franek said. “We recommend every one of our ‘Best Value Colleges’ for 2022 as well worth it.”

In the company’s profile of New College, The Princeton Review editors praised the school because it “provides challenging courses for highly self-motivated students who want a large amount of control over their academic choices.”

The Princeton Review also names New College to these lists:

#3 Top 20 Public Best Schools for Making an Impact

#7 Top 20 Public Best Schools for Financial Aid

#7 Top 20 Public Best Alumni Networks

#29 Best Value Public Colleges

The Princeton Review is widely known for its college rankings in dozens of other categories, many of which are reported in the annual book, The Best 386 Colleges.

Read New College’s profile in The Princeton Review guide here.

Abby Weingarten is the senior editor in the Office of Communications & Marketing.