The Hot Schools Of 2004

Carleton students often apply to Williams.

MOST FOR YOUR MONEY

The Evergreen State College,

Olympia, Wash.

The administration wasn't pleased when Evergreen was named No. 1 on a certain magazine's 2002 "top schools" list. (It was High Times, the pot user's periodical. The school immediately protested.) But it has a lot of other things to be happy about. With states increasingly focusing resources on small liberal-arts colleges in their systems, Evergreen has become a contender for those who might head off to pricey private schools. It has a private school's size (4,080), curriculum and educational chops. But tuition is only $3,441 for in-staters. (That may ex-plain why just 891 of those students were nonresidents--they pay almost four times as much.)

The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Florida's New College are also public schools with a private atmosphere.