(MONEY Magazine) – COSTLY BUT WORTH IT

Of the 109 schools that charge more than $18,000 in tuition and fees, these are the best values.

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

BLACK COLLEGE BUYS

Among historically black schools, these are the top five.

1. Spelman College (Ga.) 2. Howard University (D.C.) 3. Fisk University (Tenn.) 4. Clark Atlanta University (Ga.) 5. Bennett College (N.C.)

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. Hillsdale College (Mich.) 6. McPherson College (Kans.) 7. Centre College (Ky.) 8. Fisk University (Tenn.) 9. Sweet Briar College (Va.) 10. Wabash College (Ind.) 11. University of the South (Tenn.) 12. Pomona College (Calif.) 13. Drury College (Mo.) 14. William Jewell College (Mo.) 15. Grinnell College (Iowa) 16. Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) 17. Austin College (Texas) 18. Tabor College (Kans.) 19. Muskingum College (Ohio)

TOP PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR IN-STATE STUDENTS

These are the 25 best buys in public schools across the country when we use the 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. University of Virginia 4. College of William and Mary (Va.) 5. James Madison University (Va.) 6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 7. University of California-Berkeley 8. Humboldt State University (Calif.) 9. Georgia Institute of Technology 10. University of Iowa 11. State U. of New York at Binghamton 12. University of Florida 13. University of Washington 14. University of California-Irvine 15. U. of California-Riverside 16. State U. of New York at Albany 17. U. of Wisconsin-Madison 18. U. of California-Los Angeles 19. U. of California-Davis 20. U. of Texas-Austin 21. U. of Colorado-Boulder 22. North Carolina State University 23. University of Georgia 24. University of Delaware 25. Truman State University (Mo.)

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SCHOOLS

Here are the top 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. Harvey Mudd College (Calif.) 6. Virginia Polytechnic Institute 7. Rose-Hulman Inst. of Technology (Ind.) 8. Iowa State University 9. Michigan Technological University 10. New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Tech. 11. GMI Engineering and Management Institute (Mich.) 12. Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) 13. University of Missouri-Rolla 14. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 15. Illinois Institute of Technology

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.

1. California Institute of Technology 2. Columbia University (N.Y.) 3. Sweet Briar College (Va.) 4. U. of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign 5. Martin Luther College (Minn.) 6. Rice University (Texas) 7. New College of the U. of South Florida 8. Wilson College (Pa.) 9. Muskingum College (Ohio) 10. Grinnell College (Iowa) 11. Lyon College (Ark.) 12. Bethany College (W.Va.) 13. Ripon College (Wis.) 14. Goshen College (Ind.) 15. U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 16. State U. of N.Y. College at Fredonia 17. Hanover College (Ind.) 18. Centre College (Ky.) 19. Principia College (Ill.) 20. Wabash College (Ind.) 21. Thomas Aquinas College (Calif.) 22. Antioch College (Ohio) 23. Central College (Iowa) 24. Bennington College (Vt.) 25. Humboldt State U. (Calif.)

EIGHT GREAT DEALS

The following schools weren't included in our value analysis because they charge no tuition. (In addition, work or five to eight years of military commitment are requirements at seven of the schools.) But you'll find detailed data about each of them in our MONEY Guide to 1,115 Colleges, which begins on page 138.

1 Alice Lloyd College. This Pippa Passes, Ky. school offers free education to kids from 76 neighboring counties in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. In exchange, students work 10 hours a week at campus jobs.

2 Berea College. Students at this school, located in Berea, Ky., work 10 to 20 hours a week at campus jobs for free tuition.

3 College of the Ozarks. Kids at the Point Lookout, Mo. college pay their way by working on campus 15 hours a week, plus one 40-hour week each semester.

4 Cooper Union. This school in New York City restricts majors to architecture, art and engineering.

5-8 Military academies. Graduates of all four U.S. military academies pay their schools back by serving time on active duty. The Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. require five years of active duty. The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs demands six to eight years.

WOMEN'S SCHOOLS

Of the 49 women-only colleges, seven are among our top 150.

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