University of Richmond selected for Princeton Review's "The Best 371 Colleges" guide
July 27, 2009
The University of Richmond has been included in the 2010 edition of The Princeton Review's "The Best 371 Colleges." The national college guidebook gave high ratings to Richmond in the areas of academics, admission selectivity, financial aid, green initiatives and quality of life.
Only about 15 percent of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the book. Selection is based on institutional data, feedback from students attending the schools and staff visits, said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's vice president of publishing and the guide's author. Richmond has been highlighted in every edition since the book was first published in 1992.
In its profile of Richmond, the book quotes students as saying that faculty members' "top priority is the students" and "classes are small" ensuring that faculty members "get to know you on a personal level." Students praise the administration for "always looking to improve things, whether it be the facilities, course options or the living/scholarship opportunities."
"Each of our 371 ‘best' colleges offers great academics," said Franek. "However, we don't rank schools academically because our goal is to help students find and get into the best school for them."
Instead, the guide provides ratings on a scale of 60-99 in several categories. Richmond scored 95 in admission selectivity, 94 in financial aid, 93 in professors' accessibility, 91 in academics, 91 in interesting professors, 89 in green (a measure of a college's commitment to environmentally related policies, practices and education), and 85 in quality of life.
In January, The Princeton Review and USA Today named Richmond to a list of 100 "best value" colleges based on 30 statistical criteria of academics, costs and financial aid. To identify "best value," the publications also utilized surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private colleges about professors' accessibility, class sizes, student-faculty ratios and percent of classes taught by teaching assistants.
Recently, Richmond was included in the 2010 edition of the "Fiske Guide to Colleges," one of the leading guides for college-bound students. The guide stated that "students at Richmond enjoy a healthy mix of Southern ambience and intellectual rigor that includes small classes, close friendships and lots of team work." It also cited the low student/faculty ratio, extensive undergraduate research opportunities and strong study abroad options.
For more information about The Princeton Review guide, visit http://www.PrincetonReview.com.