For the 14th consecutive year, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has been named one of America's 100 Best College Buys.  The annual cost of attendance for nonresident students at the School of Mines is less than half of the national average.  For freshman entering the school, their grade point averages and ACT scores exceed the national average.  Mines student Haley Galvin said she was considering schools in Nebraska and even New York but when it came down to the choice, she knew School of Mines had the best education for her money.

Galvin says, "It just kind of stood out. It's a little smaller school, which I like, more personable, the teachers are more on a first name basis, so I guess all around this was just an easier pick for me."

This year more than one-thousand accredited U.S. colleges and universities participated in the survey to possibly be considered as one of the top affordable colleges.  The list is published by Institutional Research and Evaluation.

Tessa Thomas