Campus Connection

UW-La Crosse is once again getting accolades from “Kiplinger's Personal Finance” magazine. UWL is one of only two public colleges in Wisconsin to make the list of top 100 best values in public colleges for 2016. UWL ranked No. 44 for out-of-state students and No. 63 for in-state students on Kiplinger’s list — both improvements from No. 61 and No. 65, respectively, a year ago. UW-L has received “best value” recognition from Kiplinger’s for more than a decade. “We’re very proud to remain ranked among these prestigious institutions,” says UWL Chancellor Joe Gow. “Clearly we offer a great value for our students by providing them an outstanding education at a very reasonable price.” UW-Madison, the only other UW in the rankings, was No. 8 for both in-state and out-of- state. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked No. 1. Kiplinger’s assesses value by measurable standards of academic quality and affordability. Quality measures include the admission rate, the percentage of students who return for sophomore year, the student-faculty ratio and four-year graduation rate. Cost criteria include sticker price, financial aid and average debt at graduation. The annual rankings are now available online and will appear in print in the February 2016 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, on newsstands Jan. 5. UWL consistently makes Kiplinger’s list of 25 Best College Values under $30,000 a Year and has remained the top-ranked comprehensive university in the UW System for 15 years in a row. U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2016 list of Best Regional Universities in the Midwest named UWL the No. 4 public university in the Midwest among institutions providing a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s programs.