The University of Maryland, College Park, recently was named as the fifth "Best Value in Public Colleges" by Kiplinger, trailing only the College of William and Mary, the University of Florida, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Maryland was ranked fifth for in-state students and 10th for out-of-state students.

The annual Kiplinger study bases its ranking on a combination of financial factors, including total cost per year and cost after need-based aid for in-state students, total cost per year and cost after need-based aid for out-of-state students and average debt at graduation. Kiplinger also factors in the schools' admission rates and four-year-graduation rates.

The overall admission rate for the University of Maryland, College Park, is 45 percent, with students from Montgomery County being accepted at a slightly higher rate in the 2011 and 2012 academic years. The priority deadline admission rate for Montgomery County students in 2013 was 49.5 percent.

Prince George's County had seen an increase in admission rates between 2011 (32.6 percent) and 2012 (40 percent), but the priority deadline admission rate for 2013 dipped to 35.7 percent. (The priority admission rates only represent students who met the university's priority application deadline, and the figures are expected to change at the conclusion of the application review process.)

The University of Maryland, College Park, has climbed Kiplinger's rankings steadily, moving from No. 28 in Kiplinger's 2008 study to the Top 10 in 2011, and achieving a No. 5 ranking from Kiplinger's 2011 study. The University maintained that No. 5 ranking in 2012.

Read the full 2012 report on Kiplinger's website.