Is $6,800-a-year tuition at the University of Maryland, College Park, “the best deal in the universe,” as Gov. Robert Ehrlich told The Examiner? And is it really $6,800 a year?

Tuition alone at UMCP is $6,566, but adding mandatory undergraduate fees, the total comes to $7,821 for in-state students. That’s about $600 more than in-state tuition and fees at the University of Virginia, and $500 more than the University of Delaware, but about $2,000 less than at Penn State. “It’s often difficult to compare” tuitions and fees, said Cassandra Robinson, a College Park spokeswoman.