The University of Florida is the nation's second-best value among U.S. public colleges, according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Only the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a better value, the magazine says.

Four other Florida universities made the magazine's top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges for 2010:

• New College ranked 12th.

• Florida State University ranked 17th.

• The University of Central Florida ranked 36th.

• The University of South Florida ranked 60th.

The magazine compiled a list of the 100 public colleges that it says best exemplify academic excellence while keeping in-state and out-of-state costs to a minimum. The list appears in the magazine's February issue, which will be on newsstands Tuesday.

The universities on the list were selected from a pool of 500-plus four-year colleges and universities. They were ranked according to academic quality, including admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates, plus cost and financial aid.

Richard Danielson, Times staff writer