America's Nine Best College Dorm Deals

These top-ranked schools have affordable dorms.

The cost of college isn't coming down any time soon. Tuition, fees and room and board charges have outpaced the rate of inflation for several years, making families pay more in real terms for an education that's a prerequisite for many white-collar jobs.

Room and board alone now costs an average of $8,000, which is an 11% increase from three years ago. These costs may rise faster than actual tuition because few if any tuition dollars go toward student housing, forcing most facilities to be self-sustaining.

Because scholarship funds a student uses to cover room and board are classified as taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service, the costs of living on campus can make an outsized dent in a student's wallet. Earlier this week Forbes published a list of the most expensive college dorms. When rating costs, we looked at four-year institutions that require full-time students to live on campus their first year. That pushed expensive dorms at schools like New York University and the University of California, Berkeley off of the list, because students in each city can find cheaper apartments off-campus or live with family.

What about schools where living expenses aren't likely to break the bank? To come up with a list of the best college dorm deals, Forbes again looked at total room and board costs at every four-year institution that requires first-year students to live on campus. Schools without an on-campus residency requirement do not appear on this list because students there have more control over their living costs.

In order to qualify as a good deal, total costs had to be less than the average cost of room and board nationwide, and the school had to appear within the top 100 on our list of America's best colleges. (Hendrix College, which we ranked 102 overall, is included as an honorable mention.) We ranked the best deals by comparing the institution's overall quality with its costs.

What did we find? Kenyon College, located in Gambier, Ohio, offers the nation's best dorm deal on account of its low prices and high academic quality. Overall, the school is ranked on our list 32nd of America's best colleges. Students there pay an average of $6,590 a year to live in one of five buildings that house first-year students, which is about half the price of schools like Oberlin that are in similar areas. Most students live with one roommate, while some room in groups of three.

Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., rates second on the list of best dorm deals. There students pay an average of $6,957 for a shared room. Each residence hall has a computer lab, common-area fireplace and shared kitchen. Lawrence ranks No. 50 on Forbes list of America's Best Colleges.

Wabash College, No. 3 on our list of dorm deals, is one of the few remaining single-sex schools in the nation. Here, men pay an average of $7,400 to live in one of five residence halls in rooms that range from singles to triples. Overall, the school is ranked 42 on our list of best colleges.