The 30 US colleges that offer the best value for your money

Harvard University
Harvard University cracked the top five. REUTERS

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Before you shell out thousands of dollars for your undergraduate education, you'll want to make sure it's worth your time and money.

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Kiplinger recently released its list of 300 best-value public and private schools, ranked based on quality — including test scores of incoming students, admission rates, academic support, and graduation rates — and cost measures, such as total cost, financial aid packages, and average debt at graduation.

Read Kiplinger's full methodology here.

Washington and Lee University, a small, Virginia-based liberal-arts college, stole the show this year, followed by No. 2-ranked Princeton and No. 3-ranked Harvard. Read on to see which schools cracked the top 30, along with total annual cost, average need-based aid, and average student debt upon graduation for each.

We also included the median earnings of students 10 years after starting their studies, from the US Department of Education's College Scorecard as highlighted in a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce:

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30. Carleton College

Carleton College Campus
Northfield, Minnesota. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $62,846

Average need-based aid: $34,050

Average debt upon graduation$18,302

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $46,100

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29. Wellesley College

Wellesley College
Wellesley, Massachusetts. Flicr/redjar

Total annual cost: $62,140

Average need-based aid: $39,988

Average debt upon graduation: $12,956

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $56,700

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28. Bowdoin College

Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine. Pat Wellenbach/AP

Total annual cost: $62,190

Average need-based aid: $38,978

Average debt upon graduation: $25,503

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $54,800 

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27. Dartmouth College

Dartmouth campus
Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth

Total annual cost: $65,094

Average need-based aid: $42,263

Average debt upon graduation: $21,533

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $67,100

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26. Haverford College

haverford
Haverford, Pennsylvania. Antonio Castagna/flickr

Total annual cost: $65,410

Average need-based aid: $42,621

Average debt upon graduation: $15,540

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $55,600 

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25. Vassar College

Vassar College Thompson Library
Poughkeepsie, New York. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $64,230

Average need-based aid: $43,094

Average debt upon graduation: $17,476

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $47,100 

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24. University of Richmond

University Richmond Jepson Hall Campus
Richmond, Virginia. Via Flickr

Total annual cost: $60,310

Average need-based aid: $37,199

Average debt upon graduation: $22,550

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $60,800 

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23. Emory University

Emory University Campus
Atlanta, Georgia. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $60,668

Average need-based aid: $37,657

Average debt upon graduation: $24,741

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $59,000 

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22. Thomas Aquinas College

thomas aquinas college
Santa Paula, California. Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $32,500

Average need-based aid: $15,755

Average debt upon graduation: $16,263

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: N/A

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21. Stanford University

stanford university
Stanford, California. PROKazuhisa OTSUBO/flickr

Total annual cost: $61,852

Average need-based aid: $41,620

Average debt upon graduation: $19,230

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $80,900 

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20. Amherst College

Amherst College Campus Students Quad
Amherst, Massachusetts. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $64,772

Average need-based aid: $47,243

Average debt upon graduation: $14,490

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $56,800 

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19. Colgate University

colgate university
Hamilton, New York. Shutterstock.com

Total annual cost: $63,580

Average need-based aid: $41,428

Average debt upon graduation: $21,405

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $61,500 

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18. Grinnell College

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa. Facebook/grinnellcollegealumni

Total annual cost: $59,298

Average need-based aid: $37,153

Average debt upon graduation: $16,315

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $45,600

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17. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Total annual cost: $61,434

Average need-based aid: $37,090

Average debt upon graduation: $19,064

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $91,600

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16. Middlebury College

Middlebury
Middlebury, Vermont. bgblogging via Flickr

Total annual cost: $62,456

Average need-based aid: $39,238

Average debt upon graduation: $17,975

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $53,400 

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15. California Institute of Technology

Cal tech campus
Pasadena, California. Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $60,084

Average need-based aid: $37,557

Average debt upon graduation: $12,104

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $74,000

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14. Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University Students Campus Baseball
Middletown, Connecticut. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $64,078

Average need-based aid: $41,532

Average debt upon graduation: $22,959

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $50,900 

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13. Williams College

williams college
Williamstown, Massachusetts. Emily Calkins

Total annual cost: $64,090

Average need-based aid: $43,689

Average debt upon graduation: $14,170

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $58,100 

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12. Kenyon College

kenyon college
Gambier, Ohio. PROCurt Smith/flickr

Total annual cost: $62,930

Average need-based aid: $38,039

Average debt upon graduation: $20,323

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $43,700 

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11. Duke University

Duke University students
Durham, North Carolina. Duke University/Facebook

Total annual cost: $64,593

Average need-based aid: $41,910

Average debt upon graduation: $20,556

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $76,700 

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10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

UNC Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $46,017

Average need-based aid: $14,791

Average debt upon graduation: $18,945

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $50,400 

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9. Yale University

yale university
New Haven, Connecticut. Francisco Anzola/Flickr

Total annual cost: $63,250

Average need-based aid: $45,710

Average debt upon graduation: $14,853

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $66,000 

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8. Pomona College

Pomona College
Claremont, California. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $63,670

Average need-based aid: $41,443

Average debt upon graduation: $16,273

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $52,600 

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7. Rice University

Rice University Campus
Houston, Texas. Tendenci Software/Flickr

Total annual cost: $56,703

Average need-based aid: $34,954

Average debt upon graduation: $22,241

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $59,900 

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6. Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University Campus
Nashville, Tennessee. Via Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $61,470

Average need-based aid: $39,953

Average debt upon graduation: $20,790

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $60,900 

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5. Swarthmore College

Swarthmore Pennsylvania
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $62,690

Average need-based aid: $40,314

Average debt upon graduation: $21,866

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $49,400 

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4. Davidson College

davidson college
Davidson, North Carolina. Dacoslett/Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $61,119

Average need-based aid: $37,170

Average debt upon graduation: $22,000

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $58,500 

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3. Harvard University

Harvard Students College University Campus Yard
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Via Flickr

Total annual cost: $61,659

Average need-based aid: $44,430

Average debt upon graduation: $15,117

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $87,200 

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2. Princeton University

princeton university
Princeton, New Jersey. Flickr / James Loesch

Total annual cost: $58,660

Average need-based aid: $42,097

Average debt upon graduation: $6,600

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $75,100 

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1. Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia. Wikimedia Commons

Total annual cost: $59,202

Average need-based aid: $41,472

Average debt upon graduation: $23,224

Median earnings 10 years after enrolling: $77,600 

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