Kiplinger's Personal Finance touts UW value

A national magazine has ranked the University of Washington as the country's ninth-best public college for economic value and academics.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, which reviewed four-year public schools, will release its complete rankings Tuesday. The magazine's Web site is www.kiplinger.com.

In the top 10 rankings, the UW beat UCLA. But it fell below the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which came in first.

While the yearly cost for in-state students at the Chapel Hill campus was $13,430, magazine editors said the amount for a UW student was $15,730.

The UW's yearly out-of-state costs were $31,476 and the average debt amount after graduation was $15,900.

In comparison, the Chapel Hill campus' out-of-state yearly costs were $29,078 and the post-graduation debt amount was $14,487.

While Western Washington University earned the 38th spot in the magazine's rankings, Washington State University landed in 90th place. The magazine placed the University of Oregon in 86th place and ranked the University of Idaho in 98th place.