Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology and Yale University rank as the best schools in the nation.

But in terms of value for the money, Berea College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill andthe University of Washington, Seattle top the list.

Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., and theUniversity of California, Los Angeles round out the top five, with Harvard coming in sixth.

This year, for the first time, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankingscalculated which schools among the top 250 overall provide the best value, by dividing eachschool's overall score by its average net price—including tuition, fees, room and board—forstudents who received federal or institutional aid.

Berea College, a liberal-arts school in Kentucky that landed at No. 231 in the overall ranking, leads the list for best value because its expectation that students work on campus and itshefty endowment allow it to charge no tuition and keep its average net price at $2,862 forfirst-year students, according to federal data for 2015-16.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, No. 37 overall, is the No. 2 best-value school.

Its Carolina Covenant ensures debt-free graduation for students whose families earn less thandouble the federal poverty level, just under $50,000 for a family of four last year, and otheraid programs help even middle-income students. The school's average net price was just over $10,000.

Seven of the top 10 best-value schools are public institutions. Those private schools that aretoward the top of the list tend to have significant endowments, meaning they can devotesubstantial resources to financial aid.