The 2017 edition of Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck highlights universities across the United States that Princeton Review believes do a particularly good job of balancing excellent academics, affordability, and career services. Princeton Review bases its “top 200” designation on an analysis of more than 650 colleges across over 40 data points, covering everything from graduation rates to financial aid packages.

Princeton Review’s profile of UMBC highlights the university’s reputation as an academic powerhouse where “students take education seriously” and “it is cool to be smart.” The publication notes:

Undergraduates are enthusiastic about the “academic opportunities and scholarship programs available,” and say, “UMBC wants to see every student succeed—they provide you with the tools, people, and resources to make sure you get where you want to go in life.”

Specifically on the issue of value, Princeton Review writes, “Across the board, undergrads here brag that their school provides a ‘quality education at an affordable cost.'”

It also mentions UMBC’s robust, competitive scholars programs across a broad range of fields, including “cyber scholars, artist scholars, humanities scholars, public affairs scholars, women in technology scholars, STEM teacher education scholars and the Meyerhoff scholars,” which combine financial aid, research opportunities, special seminars, and other supports.

The Princeton Review profile also reaches beyond academics to touch on the student experience. The Colleges That Pay You Back guide notes:

…despite their dedication to hard work, UMBC students…say “that almost every student at UMBC is involved with at least a couple of extracurricular activities, which connect them to the campus.” The school has a strong reputation for diversity and students feel “it enriches our school and everyone gets to know everyone despite culture or ethnicity.”

UMBC has appeared on this “best value” list several times in the past, including in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2016. Just a few weeks ago, UMBC was also again named a Best Value College for 2017 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, featured on both its “top 100” public universities list and “top 300” national list.

Image: Flags in the UMBC Commons, by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.