For the third consecutive year, UNCW has ranked in The Princeton Review’s 100 “Best Value Colleges” in America. But The Princeton Review is facing some public criticism for its ranking system

This is the third year The Princeton Review has teamed up with USA Today to produce the list of 50 private and 50 public “Best Value” colleges. The Princeton Review chooses the schools based on academics, cost of attendance and financial aid, according a press release. The education services company surveyed administrators and students at 650 colleges with strong academic programs.

“Paying for college is challenging for most parents,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president of The Princeton Review in a press release. “Among the 12,000 respondents to our 2010  ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey’ of college applicants and their parents, 86 percent told us financial aid would be ‘very necessary’ to foot the bill.”

Although Franek says he recommends these 100 institutions, an article published simultaneously in USA Today reports “at least 45 Best Value schools have eliminated or capped loans from student aid packages in recent years.”

Lynn O’Shaughnessy, author of “The College Solution” and blogger for CBS’s moneywatch.com, says the private schools ranked in the top 10 award only need-based—not merit-based—financial aid. “A wealthy student, for instance, will pay $51,500 for tuition and room/board to attend Swarthmore, which is the number one school on the list,” writes O’Shaughnessy. “It may very well be worth the price to rich parents, but I’d hardly call it a bargain.”

Similar issues plague public colleges. O’Shaughnessy points out that resident tuition at a public university is a deal compared to out-of-state tuition. UNCW’s tuition, including fees, for the 2010-11 year is $5,416 for in-state students and more than three times that for out-of-state students.

This time last year, O’Shaughnessy criticized The Princeton Review’s ranking system. “Plenty of the top colleges that The Princeton Review singles out for honors could also earn spots on a list of the nation’s most expensive colleges and universities,” she wrote. “Many of the students who end up attending these ‘best value’ schools will pay more than $200,000 for their degree.” She points out many of the same flaws in the 2011 Best Value Colleges list.

“National rankings in higher education and the data used to determine them are always questioned,” said Cindy Lawson, spokesperson for the university, in an official statement, “which is why ranking organizations are constantly working to improve their methodologies.”

Lawson said the rankings are a factor when students and parents are choosing a school, but the more important factors that figure in are word-of-mouth reputation, the student’s experience during a campus visit and whether the institution offers the degree program the student would like to pursue.

“We are more concerned with meeting and exceeding our own internal progress measures and goals, with the philosophy that if we are successful in meeting our own targets, recognition in the rankings will follow,” Lawson said.

Other “Best Value” universities in North Carolina are UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, Duke University, UNCA, Appalachian State, Davidson and Wake Forest.

The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2011” are:

1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA)

2. New College of Florida (Sarasota FL)

3. University of Florida (Gainesville FL)

4. State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton NY)

5. University of Georgia (Athens GA)

6. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor MI)

7. College of William and Mary (Williamsburg VA)

8. University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill NC)

9. North Carolina State University (Raleigh NC)

10. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York NY)

The Princeton Review “Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2011” are:

1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)

2. Duke University (Durham NC)

3. Princeton University (Princeton NJ)

4. California Institute of Technology (Pasadena CA)

5. Harvard College (Cambridge MA)

6. Wesleyan University (Middletown CT)

7. Williams College (Williamstown MA)

8. Vanderbilt University (Nashville TN)

9. Wesleyan College (Macon GA)

10. Yale University (New Haven CT)