for immediate release

DUE WEST, SCÑ Money Magazine's 1998 College Guide has listed Erskine College in Due West as one of the nation's top 150 elite values in college education today, according to the September 1997 issue on newsstands now.

The magazine lists the top 100 schools according to their rankings, and lists the 50 runners-up alphabetically because "these schools rank within a scant hundredth of a point of o ne another."

Erskine, one of only three South Carolina private colleges to make the top 150, was ranked the 24th-best value in the Southeast by Money, just ahead of No. 25 Furman University. Wofford College was ranked No. 20.

In a survey of more than 1,115 schools, Money said its purpose in the College Guide issue is to "identify the 150 best college buys - the schools that deliver the highest quality education for the tuition they charge."

The magazine also said its rankings are "an excellent place to start your college search or to supplement information you obtain on your own from schools and from other guides."

The analysis is based mostly on data compiled with the help of a publisher of college directories. Money analyzed 16 measures of educational quality, then compared them to each college's sticker-price tuition and fees to arrive at a value rati ng.

The 16 factors include entrance examination results, class rank, high school grade point average, faculty resources, faculty quality, faculty deployment, library resources, instructional budget, student services budget, freshman retention rate, four-y ear graduation rates, five- and six-year graduation rates, advanced study, default ratio on student loans, graduates who earn doctorates, and business success.

Erskine's tuition annually is $13,902 and room and board totals $4,760. The magazine said that 98 percent of Erskine's student body receives financial aid, and the average gift aid per student is $6,110.

Erskine is the oldest four-year denominational college in South Carolina. Established in 1839, it has been devoted for generations to Christian commitment and excellence in learning.