(MONEY Magazine) – While other publications simply attempt to tell you which colleges are the strongest academically, we set out to identify the 100 best college buys -- the schools that deliver the highest-quality education for the tuitions they charge. This makes our ranking an excellent place to start your college search or to supplement information you obtain on your own from schools and from other guides. Our value approach explains why our ranking includes such remarkably varied institutions as relatively obscure Trenton State (No. 3) and nationally prestigious Caltech (No. 8). We aren't suggesting the schools are in the same league academically -- they most certainly are not -- but that the educations they offer are well worth the cost, tuition of $6,287 for out-of-state students at Trenton State and $16,905 for students at Caltech. (We use out-of- state tuitions for public schools to help people searching nationwide for college bargains.) We based our analysis mostly on data compiled with the help of Wintergreen/ Orchard House of New Orleans, a publisher of college directories. (We obtained some additional data from John Minter Associates of Boulder.) In our ranking, we analyzed 16 measures of educational quality, then compared them with each college's tuition and fees to arrive at a value rating. Essentially, the schools that did best charge lower tuitions than colleges of similar quality. Here are the 16 factors analyzed in our study; we also give the national averages for each and, where appropriate, the schools in our top 100 that scored highest:

Entrance examination results. We used the percentage of freshmen who entered college in the fall of 1993 with combined verbal and math scores above 500 on the SAT (average for all colleges: verbal 42%, math 61%), or above 23 on the composite ACT (average: 38%). By this measure, the scholastically strongest freshmen were at Caltech (combined score: 1,420) and Johns Hopkins, Rose- Hulman and Williams (composite ACT score: 30). Class rank. We looked at the percentage of entering freshmen who finished in either the top fifth (average: 46%) or the top quarter (50%) of their high school classes, depending on which statistic the colleges could supply. Amherst, Caltech, Harvey Mudd and UCLA scored best, with 100% of their freshmen graduating in the top fifth of their high school classes. High school grade point average. Using the common four-point scale, we considered the average high school GPA of the entering freshman class. UCLA had the highest, 3.9, vs. the average for all colleges of 2.9. Faculty resources. We compared the number of full- and part-time undergraduates with the number of full- and part-time faculty. Caltech had the lowest ratio, 3 to 1, compared with the 14-to-1 average in our sample. Core faculty. This is the ratio of students to faculty members who hold the highest degrees available in their fields. Yale was tops with a 3-to-1 ratio; the average was 15 to 1. Faculty deployment. We considered the ratio of students to tenured faculty who actually taught classes in the fall of 1993. Rutgers-New Brunswick had the best ratio, 9 to 1, vs. the 34-to-1 average. Library resources. We divided the total of all reference materials, including books, periodicals and microfilm, by the number of students using the campus libraries. Yale's huge 1,309-to-1 ratio dwarfed the 183-to-1 average. Instructional budget. We used Department of Education reports to calculate each school's expenditure per student. Caltech spent the most, $39,106; the average was $4,818. Student services budget. These are the dollars a school spends on services such as career guidance and student activities. Dartmouth spends $4,396 per student; the average was $1,142. Freshman retention rate. This is the percentage of 1992 freshmen who returned to each school in the fall of 1993. Harvard scored best with 99%; the average was 77%. Four-year graduation rates. This is the percentage of students who earn degrees in four years. In 1993, Harvard graduated 96% of its 1989 freshmen; the average: 45%. Five- and six-year graduation rates. This is the percentage of freshmen who graduate within five (average: 55%) or six (average: 56%) years. We use the five-year rate only when colleges can't provide the six-year rate. Advanced study. We measured the percentage of graduates who went on to professional or graduate schools. Wells College is No. 1 with 70%, vs. the 25% national average. $ Default ratio on student loans. The percentage of students who default on their loans within two years of leaving school helps identify colleges whose graduates may not be well prepared for careers. Furman scored lowest with 0.8%; the national average is 7%.

Graduates who earn doctorates. The National Research Council supplied us with the number of graduates from each college who went on to earn Ph.D.s between 1983 and 1992. UC-Berkeley had the most (3,640, 18% of its graduates in those years). Business success. We used data from Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, which lists where 71,500 top executives went to college. (Yale had the most graduates in the register, 956.) -- J.K.