Kiplinger.com has published the top 100 Best Values in public college/universities. As with any ranking system, it is best to know exactly what the methodology consists of. Kiplinger starts with data from Petersons/Nelnet (www.petersons.com; www.nelnet.com) on 500 public institutions, then narrows it using the college’s reported ACT/SAT averages, GPAs, and four and six year graduation rates. Then Kiplinger uses academic “quality” and cost indices to formulate the 100 best values.