(MONEY Magazine) – This 19-page list provides basic information on 1,115 four-year colleges and universities. It excludes most schools that didn't qualify for the analysis that determined our best-buy ranking, as explained on page 115. Our list does, however, include 37 of those nonqualifying schools, indicated by footnotes, that Money judged to be of particular interest to readers. Money and Wintergreen/Orchard House of New Orleans, a college directory publisher, gathered the data in the spring of 1997. If information was unavailable, we indicate it with a dash (--). If a college is among our top 100, its rank appears next to its name. All footnotes are on page 173. Explanations of the data follow:

--Tuition and fees. Charges for freshmen in the 1997-98 academic year. Public school price is for freshmen from out of state.

--Room and board. What the typical student pays, usually to live in a double room on campus and eat 19 meals a week

--Average discounted cost. The estimated average amount students will pay in 1997-98. We calculated the figure by reducing the official price for 1997-98 tuition, fees, room and board by the average amount of financial aid students at the school received in 1996-97. For public schools, we give the average discounted cost for out-of-state students.

--Percentage of freshmen receiving aid. The portion of freshmen at a school who receive any type of financial aid, whether based on need or merit, including loans, tuition waivers, work/study arrangements and athletic scholarships

--Percentage of students receiving aid. The portion of all students who receive any type of financial aid

--Percentage of need met. The average percentage of students' financial need that was actually met

--Average gift aid per student. Scholarships and grants that came from the college's own funds in 1995-96, divided by the number of undergraduates

--Students per faculty member, as reported by the schools

--Percentage who graduate in six years. The percentage of 1990 freshmen who had graduated by the summer of 1996

--Student academic level. When reporting on the most recent entering class, schools assigned a score from 1 to 5 to the typical freshman:

1. Student is from the top 20% of his or her high school class, has a GPA of B+ or better, and has SAT scores above 1,200 or ACT scores above 28

2. Top 40% of high school class; GPA of B or better; SAT scores between 1,100 and 1,199; ACT scores of 27 or 28

3. Top half of class; GPA of B-- or better; SAT scores between 950 and 1,099; ACT scores of 23 to 26

4. Top 60% of class; GPA of C or better; SAT scores between 800 and 949; ACT scores of 19 to 22

5. Grades and scores lower than above

[Text not available--table providing MONEY ranking, college name and location, Tuition and fees, Room and board, Average discounted cost, % of freshmen receiving aid, % of need meet, Average gift aid per student, Students per faculty member, % who graduate in six years, Student academic level, and telephone number for 1,115 colleges and universities]