UNH Today

The University of New Hampshire has been ranked the No. 1 best value public university in New England for the second consecutive year and is a top-10 best value public university in the country, according to this year’s Best Value Schools rankings of National Universities released by U.S. News & World Report.

UNH continues to excel in the key areas taken into consideration in determining the value rankings – scholarship and financial aid availability, cost of attendance after scholarships and other aid, and long-term student success. In 2021, 88 percent of first-year students received a combination of merit scholarships and financial aid, and 94 percent of recent graduates were employed or furthering their education within six months of graduation.

The university awarded more than $266 million in total scholarships and financial aid in 2021.

“To once again be recognized as a leader, regionally and nationally, in providing a high-quality education that delivers exceptional value is both an honor our entire community can be proud of and a direct reflection of our steadfast commitment to our mission as the state’s flagship public university,” says UNH President Jim Dean. “Nothing is more important to us than ensuring that the UNH experience delivers for every student we welcome.”

UNH has sustained its success in these areas thanks in part to several signature programs. A hallmark GPA-based merit scholarship program has made the scholarship process both more straightforward and transparent for incoming students, by automatically considering every applicant for merit scholarships based on GPA without the need for an additional application.

Likewise, the groundbreaking Granite Guarantee program allows Pell-eligible New Hampshire students to attend UNH tuition-free, a pathway that has benefited more than 2,000 students since its inception.

In the fall of 2021, 2,500 students at UNH were the first in their family to attend college.

Access to a UNH education continues to set students up for strong outcomes beyond campus. More than 75 percent of recent graduates completed at least one internship or research experience during their time at UNH, including fully-funded options like the Changemaker Fellowship – a program that helps advance the university’s sustainability efforts, which have produced STARS Platinum status, the highest rating available for sustainability – and Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grants.

UNH is an R1 research university as designated by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, and two out of every three professors mentor UNH undergraduates on research, thanks in part to a 16:1 student to faculty ratio.

“We continue to strive to make a UNH education accessible to as many students as possible, and we remain equally committed to providing an education that delivers a return on each student’s investment that exceeds even their highest expectations,” Dean says.