University of Georgia: Committed to affordability

UGA is 10th best value in public colleges according to Kiplinger.

The University of Georgia moved up two spots to No. 10 on Kiplinger's Personal Finance list of 100 best values among public colleges and universities for 2017.

Kiplinger's quality measures, which are weighted more heavily than cost, include the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and the four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation.

UGA was only one of two universities from the SEC that made the top 20 (the other being the University of Florida, which ranked at No. 7). The only other school from Georgia in the top 20 was Georgia Tech at No. 9. Georgia is one of only three states with two public schools in the top 10.

"The University of Georgia is committed to providing a world-class education at an affordable cost," said President Jere W. Morehead. "I am pleased that our ongoing efforts were once again recognized by this national ranking."

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked UGA No. 18 on its list of "Best Public Universities," and Forbes ranked UGA No. 17 on its "Top 25 Public Colleges 2016" list.

The Kiplinger rankings are available online at kiplinger.com/fronts/special-report/college-rankings/. The rankings will also appear in the February 2017 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, on newsstands Jan. 3.