Despite steep tuition increases, three University of California campuses made onto Kiplinger’s list of the Top 10 values in public colleges for 2011-2012.

UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Diego ranked seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively, on the list published today by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

It was the first time in three years that any California school cracked the top 10 in Kiplinger’s annual ranking of the 100 public four-year colleges that offer the best combination of quality and affordability. In December 2008, UCSD ranked 10th, while UC-Berkeley and UCLA ranked 12th and 13th, respectively.

One reason California schools moved up this year: Kiplinger tweaked its methodology. “We gave more weight to academic measures,” such as four-year graduation, freshman retention and admission rates, says Jane Bennett Clark, senior editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “We also added yield, or the number of accepted applicants who enroll.”

Clark noted that UC Berkeley and UCLA “are also in the top 10 for four-year graduation rates, which we gave more weight to this year on the premise that graduation rates not only reflect the academic support that students get at school but also the affordability.”

Strong academics helped offset painful price hikes at California schools. In-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at UC campuses rose 17 percent on average this year. That was roughly twice the average 8.3 percent increase at public-four year colleges and universities nationwide, as reported by the College Board. The average tuition and fees at California State University campuses rose 19 percent.

Kiplinger looked at each school’s total cost of attendance — including tuition, fees and room and board — before and after financial aid and factored both numbers into its affordability calculation.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked No. 1 overall for the 11th year in a row.

Nine other California schools ranked in this year’s Top 100: UC Santa Barbara (17th), UD Davis (20th), UC Irvine (22nd) UC Santa Cruz (56th), San Diego State University (77th), California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (83rd), Cal Poly Pomona (91st), UC Riverside (95th) and California State University Long Beach (98th).

“The California schools are still a good deal,” Clark says.

Kiplinger ranked the top values in private schools in November.