by James Johnson
The best value in public universities can be a very controversial and touchy subject. This is because there are public universities all around the world and each country would like to consider at least one of theirs as the best. Also the best can vary depending upon what you are studying and what you define as the best.
Best can mean did they get the most knowledge imparted for the field in which they studied? Does it mean that they went to the best public university for looking after its students, with good health and a low drop out rate? The best public university could be the university that has the best rate of success at finding jobs for its graduates. All of these, and numerous other factors could be what makes any university "the best", public or private! Let us look at a few of the best in England and the United States.
In England, two of the best Public Universities would be between Cambridge and Oxford, then you can throw in Imperial and a few others. All three universities are very particular in who they accept, but once accepted the Universities work hard to make sure the students do well. They help with tuition, have free teas to offset food expense and social events to encourage interests outside of studies. A degree form any of these places will almost assure one of a good, well paying position. What is good is that every graduate would claim they went to the best. This means that they got what they considered the best!
The United States has hundreds of public universities, many more that in England, and they are varied and diverse, it makes it almost impossible to choose the best. If you check on the Internet, you will get millions of suggested websites, over 165 million! There are various rating systems and they use a wide selection of criteria. My son used the Princeton Review board and chose Clemson University for his studies. It had high student satisfaction, high ratings in science (he wanted Physics) and high graduate job rate, that made it the best value for him! So far, he is extremely happy there!
Choosing the best is always controversial, and value in public universities is no different. Look them all over as closely as you can and then determine what is the best value for you!
