logo
These Utah universities ranked among top 10 ‘Best Value Colleges in Western U.S.'

These Utah universities ranked among top 10 ‘Best Value Colleges in Western U.S.'

Yahoo08-04-2025
OREM, Utah () — According to new rankings for the best value colleges in the West, Utah schools have made a mark for the 2024 to 2025 school year.
The rankings come from Research.com, an educational platform that researches schools and careers in an effort to assist students in the decision-making process. When looking at the best value — weighing cost, financial aid, acceptance rate, and alumni salaries — Utah Valley University came out on top for the Beehive State.
UVU was deemed the 'Best Value College in Utah' and ranked among the top 10 'Best Value Colleges in the Western U.S.,' with Utah Tech University close behind.
Utah loses bid to keep Sundance Film Festival after 40 years of history
Utah Valley ranked No. 6 in the Western United States for Best Value, with right behind it at No. 7. Several Utah universities followed, including Southern Utah University at No. 14, at No. 15, and finally the University of Utah at No. 20.
When looking at the country as a whole, UVU ranked No. 20 and Utah Tech followed at No. 21.
'Being recognized by Research.com is a testament to UVU's commitment to providing students with a high-quality, affordable education that leads to real-world success,' said Wayne Vaught, provost and senior vice president of UVU's Academic Affairs.
He continued to say that UVU is the university 'that educates the most Utahns' and takes pride in assisting students on their 'pathway to employment.'
The research platform released other rankings for the 2024 to 2025 school year, with the U of U being the only Utah school to rank in the top 20 for 'Best Colleges in the West.'
While was ranked No. 30 in that category, it did make the top 20 for BYU's Hawaii campus made the top 10.
Surprisingly, Utah's 'Most Popular College' was followed by Brigham Young University and Westminister University to round out the top three. This designation is decided based on the number of applications submitted, according to the site.
For a deeper dive, prospective students can check out a school's overall rankings, as well as rankings for specific majors and departments, for free on the .
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

From No Home to a Perch in Hollywood, a Filmmaker Finally Breaks Through
From No Home to a Perch in Hollywood, a Filmmaker Finally Breaks Through

New York Times

time8 hours ago

  • New York Times

From No Home to a Perch in Hollywood, a Filmmaker Finally Breaks Through

Fresh from a year of attending the prestigious Sundance labs and armed with a script that would become her first feature, the director Victoria Mahoney thought her life as a filmmaker was about to begin. It was 2006 and she was attending a party at the Sundance Film Festival for industry professionals to meet the new crop of lab graduates. Agents, producers and others were there to mine new talent for future collaborations. Mahoney and her pal, the documentary filmmaker Kirsten Johnson, stood in that room and waited to be approached. Crickets. Finally, an agent came over and asked about their involvement in the labs. They responded effusively. But instead of inquiring about their work, he asked if they could introduce him to one of their male colleagues. That agent signed that colleague in the room. Mahoney? Nothing. Not on the mountain. Not after the festival ended. It would take Mahoney 11 years to land an agent and 20 more to make her first studio film. That movie, 'The Old Guard 2,' debuted this week on Netflix. 'We all believe the fables of what happens when you're at Sundance and you've come through the labs; we've seen it,' Mahoney said in a recent interview. 'We weren't viable. We weren't anything. It's indicative of a thousand things.' Mahoney's story is not unfamiliar. So many toil in the film industry and are not rewarded with sustainable careers even when they receive accolades early on. What makes Victoria Mahoney distinct is that there never was a Plan B. She lived without a safety net for a decade, couch surfing at friends' homes, even experiencing true moments of homelessness — nights when she didn't know where she would be resting her head. But her belief in herself that she was destined to be a filmmaker? That never ebbed, regardless of her setbacks. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

‘Under the Same Moon' director on immigration crackdown: ‘It's called fascism'
‘Under the Same Moon' director on immigration crackdown: ‘It's called fascism'

Los Angeles Times

time21 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

‘Under the Same Moon' director on immigration crackdown: ‘It's called fascism'

When Mexican director Patricia Riggen first debuted her critically acclaimed feature film 'Under the Same Moon' 18 years ago, she anticipated tears from audiences and increased sympathy to the plight of migrants in the United States. But she could have never predicted the militarized crackdown on migrants happening today. 'If I made 'Under the Same Moon' right now, I would not make it like that,' said Riggen in a phone interview. 'It would be dark as hell.' The fictional drama follows 9-year-old Carlitos (played by Adrián Alonso), who lives in Mexico with his ailing grandmother, while his mother Rosario (Kate del Castillo) navigates life as an undocumented worker in Los Angeles. After his grandmother's sudden death, Carlitos crosses the border alone in search of his mother, piecing together details of her whereabouts from their past routine phone calls. After its 2007 debut at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation, 'Under the Same Moon,' which was titled 'La Misma Luna' in Spanish, was picked up by [Fox] Searchlight Pictures and released in theaters the following year. It broke box office records for any Spanish-language movie in the United States at the time. While lighthearted in brief moments, thanks to Carlitos' bond with a grouchy wayward migrant named Enrique (Eugenio Derbez), the storyline reflected the harrowing journey traversed by many migrants in the U.S. in the early 2000s, told through the eyes of a child. 'It gave a human face to a statistic and to a political problem,' says Riggen. 'That's why it became the phenomenon that it was back then, and now here we are,' said Riggen — referring to the ongoing ICE sweeps by masked law enforcement, detainment of U.S. citizens and the deportations of migrations without due process. De Los interviewed Riggen about the enduring impact of her film, 'Under the Same Moon,' the same day she reunited with Derbez and screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos on a June 26 panel hosted by the National Assn. of Latino Independent Producers. 'It is the first time that we are getting together again, and it's an important time,' Riggen said. 'I think that this movie [provides] a little bit of hope for the Latino community.' This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity. It's been almost two decades since the release of 'Under the Same Moon.' How have its themes evolved since 2007? Unfortunately, nothing has changed for the better. It's changed for the worse. I feel like things are worse than ever. There's things that never happened before, like deportations to third-party countries, or detentions without due process, detentions by people who are not identifying themselves. We don't even know if they are actually ICE agents. As a member of the Latin American community, I can tell you that it has a name and it's called fascism. It gives me shivers, because if you are from Latin America you immediately remember Argentina, Chile and Brazil. That's how they used to operate. They would just come over to their homes and take them. No identification, no nothing. I wish the American people could see that, but they don't know it because they've never seen it before. It is the worst-case scenario that I can imagine. When we made 'La Misma Luna,' there were thousands of unaccompanied minors. That was the original inspiration for Ligiah Villalobos, when she wrote the first draft of the film. It was a groundbreaking movie because it used to be a string of sad, depressing dark [immigration] movies, but this was different. The movie had a more heartwarming, positive outlook. It still touched on super complex subject matters, but the intention was to show immigrants in a positive light, good people with good values. People become immigrants out of necessity, because of poverty, violence, persecution. If you were to make the movie now, would the tone overshadow those glimmers of hope? That's how I feel right now. I would do a deep dive like 'El Norte,' because that film was another emblematic movie on the subject matter. That was dark and tough. Then came 'La Misma Luna,' which I thought was lighter. I wanted to make a movie that the Latino audience connected with and immigrants could watch. But the tone would be different. I would do a deep dive into the problem. I stayed away from making the movie political and concentrated more on the love story with the mother-son relationship. ... Now I feel like it's time to have more of a political angle. Half the country still believes that immigrants are criminals, but being able to feed your loved one is a human right. If you continued the film where it left off, with Carlitos and his mom reuniting, where would they be in today's America? That's what [Villalobos] and I have been working on. We've been approached a few times to create a series on 'La Misma Luna,' so to answer that question, it will be in the TV series that I'm hoping for. I feel like the country is really attuned to the plight of the immigrants [now], which wasn't necessarily the case 17 years ago. What do you think was so appealing about this film when it was released? It touched on universal emotional issues that everybody could identify with. You didn't need to be Mexican or have crossed the border. Love was at the center of it. That's how I conceived it. Sometimes I get the feeling that if [Alonso] had been a mainstream actor, he would have gotten nominated for something, but that's the story of making Latino movies. We haven't been able to break through the mainstream and it's something that we are fighting every day. I find Hollywood, my industry, to be a little bit responsible for the hostility that Latinos and immigrants find as a community in the U.S. Our representation of Latinos has rarely been positive. We have to turn things around and represent the community in a positive light, not just the negative way that is prompting hostility by half of the country.

‘Still grieving': Famed Miami director's family marks his first birthday without him
‘Still grieving': Famed Miami director's family marks his first birthday without him

Miami Herald

time2 days ago

  • Miami Herald

‘Still grieving': Famed Miami director's family marks his first birthday without him

Barbara Stern would call her son Jeff Baena, the acclaimed screenwriter who co-wrote 'I Heart Huckabees' and 'Horse Girl,' at 8:30 p.m. on June 29 every year. It's the exact minute he was born, a moment she'll never forget. This year, however, he won't answer. Baena, who grew up in Miami, died by suicide in his Los Angeles home on Jan. 3. He was 47. His family and friends were stunned as his career had taken off. 'Horse Girl' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and was picked up by Netflix. Ever since Jeff moved to Los Angeles in 1999, June 29 was filled with birthday poker nights, chocolate mousse cake and a vintage Cocker Spaniel figurine. The writer-director made sure all players honored poker rules and that movies were playing so anyone mad about a poker loss could soothe their financial pain. The dark comedy genius planned for everything. Most of Jeff's family lives in the Miami area. Jeff graduated from Killian Senior High in Kendall. 'My parents are still grieving,' said Brad Baena, Jeff's brother. 'I don't know what's going to happen.' The coroner's report said Aubrey Plaza, the actress who married Baena in 2021, had moved to New York last September while Baena remained in Los Angeles, according to news reports. READ MORE: Two months after the death of Aubrey Plaza's husband, a key detail has emerged Jeff is survived by Plaza, his mother Barbara Stern and stepfather Roger Stern, his father Scott Baena and stepmother Michele Baena, his brother Brad Baena and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store