NWC named among Best in Midwest by Princeton Review

In the profile at www.princetonreview.com, Northwestern students describe the college as “exactly like they say it is during college visits—maybe even better.” Students say faculty care not only about students’ learning but also how each one is doing personally and efforts of the college community to reach out to those in need around the world.

The student quotes also commend Northwestern’s efforts to integrate faith with learning. They describe their peers as “highly involved socially, academically and religiously,” “very friendly and caring,” “hardworking and easy to get along with,” and having “big plans for their future.” They also give high marks to financial aid, accessibility of administrators, the acceptance of minority students, and campus activities.

Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s vice president of publishing, says the regional-best colleges were selected primarily for their excellent academic programs. “We chose the schools based on institutional data we collect from several hundred schools in each region, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of independent and high school-based college advisers. We also take into account what each school’s students report to us about their campus experiences on our 80-question survey.”

The Princeton Review also designated 218 colleges in the Northeast, 123 in the West, and 141 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the company’s 2010 Best Colleges: Region by Region website. The 640 colleges named represent only about 25 percent of the nation’s 2,500 four-year colleges.

The profiles of all schools featured in the Princeton Review’s Best Colleges: Region by Region website include college ratings. The ratings are scores on a scale of 60 to 99 that the Princeton Review tallies in several categories based on data provided by the colleges and/or student surveys. Only two Iowa colleges rated higher than Northwestern’s scores of 88 in financial aid and 87 in quality of life.