Kiplinger's 2009 Best Value Colleges - Pomona #1 LAC! !

[MattsMomFL]

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California On Top</p>

<p>All rise for Pomona College. Its selective admissions rate, high standardized-test scores among incoming freshmen and low student-faculty ratio, plus a financial-aid policy that knocks almost two-thirds off its sticker price, moves it from number five last year to the top of our 2008-09 list of private liberal-arts colleges.</p>

<p>Pomona not only places first among liberal-arts colleges for its selectivity, it also comes in with a near-perfect 99% for freshman retention. Blessed with a sun-drenched campus scented by eucalyptus, studded with palm trees and framed by the San Gabriel Mountains, Pomona gives freshmen-and everyone else-good reason to stick around.</p>

<p>Like many elite institutions, Pomona provides only need-based aid and meets the full need of qualified families. Recently, it replaced loans with grants in its financial-aid packages. The average cost after need-based aid is $16,980, from a sticker price of $46,580. Most families who don’t qualify for other need-based aid can take out Pomona’s loans, which are interest-free while students are in school. As with the federal student-loan programs, students can defer repayment until after they graduate.

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<p>For full article and list of rankings:</p>

<p>[2009</a> Best Values in Private Colleges - Kiplinger.com](<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/best_value_private_colleges_09.html]2009”>http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2009/01/best_value_private_colleges_09.html)</p>