(MONEY Magazine) – COSTLY BUT WORTH IT

These 18 schools are the best buys of the 93 that charge more than $17,750 in tuition and fees. They are ranked by the academic strengths we measure.

1. Harvard University (Mass.) 2. Yale University (Conn.) 3. Johns Hopkins University (Md.) 4. Dartmouth College (N.H.) 5. Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) 6. Harvey Mudd College (Calif.) 7. Columbia University (N.Y.) 8. Pomona College (Calif.) 9. Swarthmore College (Pa.) 10. Amherst College (Mass.) 11. Williams College (Mass.) 12. Princeton University (N.J.) 13. Washington University (Mo.) 14. Stanford University (Calif.) 15. Emory University (Ga.) 16. Davidson College (N.C.) 17. Haverford College (Pa.) 18. University of Notre Dame (Ind.)

BLACK COLLEGE BUYS

Among historically black schools, these are the top four. 1. Spelman College (Ga.) 2. Fisk University (Tenn.) 3. Howard University (D.C.) 4. Morehouse College (Ga.)

SMALL LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOLS

Here are the best values among schools with traditional liberal arts programs and fewer than 1,600 students.

1. New College of the U. of South Florida 2. St. Mary's College of Maryland 3. Hanover College (Ind.) 4. Hendrix College (Ark.) 5. Fisk University (Tenn.) 6. Hillsdale College (Mich.) 7. Emory and Henry College (Va.) 8. Drury College (Mo.) 9. Wabash College (Ind.) 10. Illinois College 11. Chestnut Hill College (Pa.) 12. Grinnell College (Iowa) 13. Central College (Iowa) 14. Wofford College (S.C.) 15. St. Vincent College (Pa.) 16. Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) 17. Austin College (Texas) 18. Millsaps College (Miss.) 19. Pomona College (Calif.)

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS

Here are the top 10 values among schools that specialize in science and technical programs.

1. California Institute of Technology 2. Georgia Institute of Technology 3. New Jersey Institute of Technology 4. North Carolina State University 5. Virginia Polytechnic Institute 6. Harvey Mudd College (Calif.) 7. GMI Eng. & Mgmt. Inst. (Mich.) 8. Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech. (Ind.) 9. Iowa State University 10. Michigan Technological University

TOP PUBLIC SCHOOLS RANKED BY IN-STATE TUITION

These are the 25 best buys in public schools when we use in-state tuition and fees for our analysis.

1. New College of the U. of South Florida 2. U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 3. Georgia Institute of Technology 4. U. of Texas-Austin 5. U. of Hawaii-Manoa 6. University of Florida 7. U. of North Carolina-Asheville 8. North Carolina State University 9. New Mexico Tech 10. Texas A&M U.-College Station 11. University of Iowa 12. University of Kentucky 13. University of Wyoming 14. Florida State University 15. University of Arizona 16. Auburn University (Ala.) 17. Troy State University (Ala.) 18. U. of Colorado-Boulder 19. University of Washington 20. Northeast Missouri State U. 21. University of Virginia 22. U. of Wisconsin-Madison 23. University of Central Florida 24. University of Georgia 25. North Dakota State University

WOMEN'S COLLEGES

Of the 35 schools in this Money Guide's rankings that admit only women, seven are among our top 200.

1. Spelman College (Ga.) 2. Chestnut Hill College (Pa.) 3. Salem College (N.C.) 4. Sweet Briar College (Va.) 5. Agnes Scott College (Ga.) 6. Russell Sage College (N.Y.) 7. Hollins College (Va.)

DISCOUNTED TUITION

These schools offer the best values when ranked by the average amount actually paid by students, after financial aid is deducted from the official listed price for tuition and fees.

1. U. of California-Berkeley 2. New College of the U. of S. Fla. 3. State U. of N.Y. at Binghamton 4. Hillsdale College (Mich.) 5. U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 6. Grinnell College (Iowa) 7. U. of California-Riverside 8. Sweet Briar College (Va.) 9. U. of Virginia 10. Claremont-McKenna College (Calif.) 11. Wabash College (Ind.) 12. U. of California-Irvine 13. U. of California-Los Angeles 14. Montana Tech 15. Hiram College (Ohio) 16. U. of Ill. at Urbana/Champaign 17. State U. of New York at Albany 18. U. of California-Davis 19. U. of Minnesota-Morris 20. Miami University (Ohio) 21. Ohio University 22. State U. of N. Y.-College at Geneseo 23. Pomona University (Calif.) 24. Stanford University (Calif.) 25. Harvard University (Mass.)

TOP ACADEMIC RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

Based on the 16 factors we use to determine the quality of education at a college, here are the best of the schools that place a premium on religion in their curriculum or campus life. The 16 factors are described in "How We Rank the Colleges" on page 23.

1. St. Olaf College (Minn.) 2. Centre College (Ky.) 3. Villanova University (Pa.) 4. St. Mary's College (Ind.) 5. University of Scranton (Pa.) 6. Presbyterian College (S.C.) 7. Thomas Aquinas College (Calif.) 8. St. Michael's College (Vt.) 9. Loyola Marymount University (Calif.) 10. Luther College (Iowa) 11. Valparaiso University (Ind.) 12. Rosemont College (Pa.) 13. John Carroll University (Ohio) 14. University of Dayton (Ohio) 15. King's College (Pa.) 16. St. Norbert College (Wis.) 17. Pepperdine University (Calif.) 18. Anna Maria College (Mass.) 19. Hope College (Mich.) 20. Erskine College (S.C.) 21. Grove City College (Pa.) 22. Elms College (Mass.) 23. St. Louis University (Mo.) 24. Mount St. Mary's College (Md.) 25. Capital University (Ohio)