Best US Colleges For Value: Where To Enroll To Graduate With The Least Debt And Best Job Prospects

Choosing which college to attend is not an easy decision. There are many factors to consider -- from dorm room size to location -- but one of the most important should be the value of the degree. College is an investment and incoming students need to assess what school will provide the best return.

The prospect of unemployment after graduation and mounds of student debt is nightmarish enough to keep anyone up at night all four years, so U.S. News & World Report looked at the schools with the best value.

The list released Wednesday ranked which colleges offer the best deal: a high quality education for low costs.

Calculations were based on U.S. News Best Colleges ranking for the 2014-15 year and the cost of tuition for students who received the average level of need-based financial aid. Only schools that scored in the top half of the college rankings were considered.

In a separate ranking, U.S. News also evaluated from which school's students graduate with the least debt. Most of the schools that made the top 10 list were Ivy League schools where there is a considerable endowment. But public schools such as Louisiana Tech University, University of California-Berkeley and University of Southern Mississippi also made the list.

Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, came out on top in both of the rankings. Only 17 percent of Princeton students graduate with debt at an average of $6,600.

Here are the schools that give the most bang for the buck. The complete list can be viewed on the U.S. News & World Report site.

Best Value

1. Princeton University

2. Harvard University

3. Yale University

4. Stanford University

5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

6. Columbia University

7. Duke University

8. California Institute of Technology

9. Dartmouth College

10. Brown University

Here are the schools where students graduated with the least amount of debt. The full list is available here.

Least Debt

1. Princeton University

2. California Institute of Technology

3. Brigham Young University-Provo

4. Yale University

5. Harvard University

6. Louisiana Tech University

7. Dartmouth College

8. University of California-Berkeley

9. University of Southern Mississippi

10. San Diego State University