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Kiplinger's Names Occidental "Best Value"

Occidental was ranked No. 35, one of just six west coast colleges ranked among the top 50.

This is not the first time Occidental’s combination of educational value and academic excellence has been recognized: U.S. News & World Report has ranked Occidental as a “best value” among national liberal arts colleges for four consecutive years.

“More than 75 percent of Occidental students receive some form of financial aid, and we enroll more Pell Grant recipients than most other nationally ranked liberal arts colleges,” said Bill Tingley, vice president for admission and financial aid. “It’s important to get the word out to talented students from all backgrounds that a high quality education at a private college is within their reach.”

Starting with a pool of more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Kiplinger’s combined data from Peterson’s Undergraduate Database with its own reporting to create separate rankings for universities and colleges. The ranking took into account admission rates, SAT or ACT test scores, student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, total costs, costs after need-based aid, aid from grants, cost after non-need-based aid, and average debt at graduation.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has been providing down-to-earth advice on money management and achieving financial security since 1947.