Kiplinger’s Personal Finance continues to rate the University of Virginia as one of the nation’s best higher education values.

For the 11^th consecutive year, Kiplinger’s places UVA among the top three public universities in the country in its “2018 Best College Value” rankings, released Friday morning. The publication evaluates nearly 1,200 public and private four-year schools, first weighing academic quality measures, then overlaying the top schools with cost and financial-aid criteria.

“College affordability continues to be a critical issue for students and their families across the nation,” UVA President Teresa A. Sullivan said. “UVA remains committed to offering an education that is both excellent and affordable for students from all backgrounds, and we have taken numerous steps to sustain this commitment as UVA enters its third century.”

UVA trails only the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Florida in the 2018 rankings, which are based on in-state tuition rates. The rest of the top 10 publics list includes the universities of Michigan; California-Berkeley; California-Los Angeles; Washington; Texas-Austin; North Carolina State University; and the University of Maryland-College Park.

Under the University’s “AccessUVA” financial aid program, UVA meets 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of all undergraduate students, and offers admission to students with no consideration of their family financial situation. UVA also caps loans for low-income Virginians at a maximum of $1,000 per year, and a maximum of $4,500 per year for all other Virginia students with demonstrated financial need.

In December 2016, UVA’s Board of Visitors approved the establishment of the Bicentennial Scholars Fund, a permanent endowment that could reach a value of $300 million through philanthropic support and disbursements from the UVA Strategic Investment Fund.Earnings from the Bicentennial Scholars Fund will provide need- and merit-based scholarships for undergraduate students, while relieving pressure on long-term tuition increases by funding need-based aid from this fund instead of from tuition revenue.

Earlier this month, the board approved tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, marking the third consecutive year that increases have been held at or below the rate of inflation for most in-state students.

In January, the board also authorized the Cornerstone Grant program, which provides University-funded grants to qualifying, full-time undergraduate Virginia students from middle-income families earning less than $125,000.

Such efforts have bolstered UVA’s educational value, and its ability to attract and retain increasing numbers of underrepresented students and expand the breadth and depth of its cultural and socioeconomic diversity.

The University has fared well in reputable national rankings. It rates as the No. 3 public national university (and No. 25 national university overall) in the 2018 U.S. News & World Report rankings, which also listed UVA as the No. 2 best value among public schools; and is the No. 7 best public college in Money Magazine’s 2018 rankings.

Kiplinger’s full rankings are available online and will appear in print in the February issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, which will appear on newsstands Jan. 9.