From UNCA News Services:

UNC Asheville Ranks 20th Nationally among Forbes Magazine’s “Best Value Colleges”

UNC Asheville has been ranked 20th in the nation in Forbes magazine’s “Top Colleges 2013: Best Value Colleges” list released today. UNC Asheville moved up from 21st place last year and 26th in 2011.

The “Best Value” ranking is part of Forbes’ larger annual ranking of the nation’s best 650 undergraduate institutions. Forbes based its rankings of best undergraduate colleges on student evaluations of professors, career prospects, student debt levels and graduation rates. The Forbes rankings were prepared by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, in Washington, D.C.

UNC Asheville is one of five universities in North Carolina included among the 25 Forbes “Best Value Colleges.” Also included are UNC-Chapel Hill, Appalachian State University, UNC Wilmington and UNC Charlotte.

Earlier this summer, the Fiske Guide to Colleges listed UNC Asheville as a “Best Buy” among the nation’s top colleges and named UNC Asheville’s Environmental Studies Program to its list of pre-professional programs with unusual strength in preparing students for careers.

Also this year, The Princeton Review rated UNC Asheville as a “Best Value” public college – one of only 75 institutions nationwide to earn this distinction. In February, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked UNC Asheville as one of the nation’s 100 best values in public colleges.