BY EPPA RIXEY

Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Vanderbilt the 15th "best value" school among private universities, despite an estimated cost of attendance of over $50,000 a year.

"Families hit by the economic downturn may feel that private institutions are out of their financial reach, but they will be surprised by our findings," said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger's.

Kiplinger's ratings are based on a combination of wide ranging statistics that include admissions rate, SAT scores, graduation rate, student/faculty ratio, cost and aid offerings. Widely known for its high base tuition, Vanderbilt has been able to stand out as a value for its robust financial aid offerings.

According to the Office of Financial Aid, 60 percent of the undergraduate population receives some form of financial aid, and the average cost per year for one of these students is only $21,839, a significant difference from the total cost without aid of $52,303.

In spite of the disparity between the cost with aid and the cost without aid, most students are in support of the financial aid programs Vanderbilt has.
"There were a couple places I was considering, and this was the best offer I got from a private school. It's a great value with grants and scholarships instead of loans," said first-year student Elizabeth Magdycz.

"I probably would not have come to Vanderbilt without financial aid," said senior Jim Frank.

Vanderbilt further cemented its best value ranking in October when Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos announced an expanded aid program. The new program promises no student will graduate with need-based loans; instead they will receive increased scholarships, grant assistance or a combination of the two. This initiative has placed Vanderbilt in an elite group of only 30 colleges or universities who are able to both provide need-blind admission and meet 100 percent of demonstrated need.

"Our enhanced aid program is a modest investment that will yield enormous returns in assuring that qualified students who want to attend Vanderbilt will now be able to do so, regardless of their financial situation," Zeppose said in an e-mail to the student body when introducing the new aid program.

Caltech managed to take the top spot on Kiplinger's list, followed by Yale, Princeton, Rice, Duke and Harvard.

Vanderbilt News Service contributed reporting to this article.