The University of Texas at Dallas has been named again as one of the top 100 best values among the nation’s public colleges, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

The University climbed eight spots in the annual public school rankings, going from 54th last year to 46th this year. UT Dallas is one of three schools in Texas to make the 2012 list, which will appear in Kiplinger’s February issue.

Kiplinger's Feb 2012 issue

The rankings will appear in Kiplinger’s February issue.

The magazine selected UT Dallas because of its high four-year graduation rate, low average student debt at graduation, abundant financial aid, a low sticker price and overall great value.

“It is especially meaningful that UT Dallas has been honored for delivering a quality education with a cost-efficient price in the current economy,” said UT Dallas President David E. Daniel. “We have tremendous faculty and staff who work on a daily basis to provide increasing value for our students and their families, for business interests in the Metroplex and beyond, and for the many needs of the state of Texas.  This recognition provides great satisfaction to our University family and supporters who take pride in what UT Dallas has accomplished as a higher education institution in such a short period of time.”

The Kiplinger’s list evaluates colleges on both in-state tuition and out-of-state tuition, with the in-state tuition ranking the most frequently cited standard. UT Dallas came in at 46th for in-state and 50th for out-of-state.

The magazine culls through data from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities before narrowing down the list based on criteria such as SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates.

The other Texas universities on the list are Texas A&M University (21) and The University of Texas at Austin (24).