Every list has its own spin, from US News’ complicated overall rankings to sillier “best cafeteria” lists. Kiplinger’s particular specialty is assessing various public colleges and universities in terms of value — that is, good schools for not-too-much money. And with five colleges ranking in the 100-long list, Maryland’s not a shabby state to pay your taxes in, if you’re hoping for quality tuition at in-state prices.

Kiplinger’s declared the University of Maryland, College Park the eighth-best value in the nation.  Other schools making the cut included Towson University (#76), Salisbury University (#71), St. Mary’s College of Maryland (#42) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (#84).  (All those rankings are for in-state students; for everyone else, the rankings were 10, 81, 53, 35, and 63, respectively.)

And though Maryland has a lot to be proud of in this list, we’re still facing heavy competition from our neighbors to the south.  Virginia had two schools in the top five (UVA and William and Mary), and seven schools in the top 100. The top-value college in the U.S.? The University of North Carolina. Hard to argue with that.