August 6, 2012 – The University of Utah arrived at the 17th spot in the
nation in this year’s “Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” ranking, published
this week by Forbes magazine.

The U ranks highest among Pac-12 schools on this list. Other Pac-12
institutions making the top 50 include University of Washington (No.
34), UCLA (No. 45), Colorado (No. 47) and UC Berkeley (No. 49).

While this ranking highlights affordability, a nationwide comparison
with institutions in the “Best Buy” top 20 shows the U’s College of
Engineering is second only behind University of Florida (No. 10) among
top engineering programs in the country, based on U.S. News and World
Report rankings for undergraduate and graduate engineering programs.

“The University of Utah College of Engineering is one of the top 100
engineering programs in the world according to the Academic Ranking of
World Universities,” says Richard Brown, dean of the College of
Engineering. “We have known that our students get great value for their
tuition dollar, but it is gratifying to see Forbes lists the U as one of
its top ‘Best Buy Colleges’ in the country.”

The Academic Ranking of World Universities weighs academic and research
performance, international recognition and engineering research
expenditures. The U’s College of Engineering had $74.7 million in annual
research expenditures in 2011, and was among the top 40 U.S. engineering
programs in bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees awarded.

The Top 100 Best Buy Colleges are calculated from Forbes’ list of
“America’s Top Colleges,” which evaluates 650 colleges across the U.S.
in the areas of teaching, career prospects, graduation rates and
post-graduation debt.

Provided by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a
Washington, D.C. think tank, the Top 100 Best Buy Colleges are
determined by dividing a school’s Top Colleges ranking by its tuition
(in-state if applicable) and additional fees.

Media Contact

Richard Brown: Dean, College of Engineering – (801) 581-6912, brown@utah.edu
Aditi Risbud: Senior Communications and Marketing Officer, College of Engineering – (801) 587-9038, aditi.risbud@coe.utah.edu