NWC named among Midwest's best by Princeton Review

Northwestern College is among the best colleges in the Midwest, according to the Princeton Review, a nationally known education services company. Northwestern is one of 153 institutions the Princeton Review recommends in the 2012 “Best in the Midwest” section on its website, based on institutional data and the opinions of current students.

A Northwestern student quoted in the college’s profile at www.princetonreview.com described the college as “exactly like they say it is during college visits—maybe even better.” Other student comments described faculty as “amazing,” saying they care not only about students’ learning but also how each one is doing personally and about the school’s efforts to reach out to those in need around the world.

Students cited in the profile describe their peers as “very friendly and caring,” “hardworking and easy to get along with,” “highly involved socially, academically and religiously,” and having “big plans for their future.” The website also includes positive student comments about Northwestern’s financial aid, accessibility of administrators, acceptance of minority students, campus activities, and integration of faith and learning.

The profiles of all schools featured on the Princeton Review’s Best Regional Colleges 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. Among the 15 Iowa colleges in the “Best in the Midwest” section, only one rated higher in quality of life than Northwestern’s score of 94 and two rated higher in financial aid than Northwestern’s 89.

Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president/publisher, says the regional-best colleges were selected primarily for their excellent academic programs. “We’re pleased to recommend Northwestern College to users of our site. From several hundred schools in each region, we winnowed our list based on data we collected directly from the schools, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of our staff, plus college counselors and advisers. We also take into account what students reported to us about their campus experiences on our 80-question survey.” 

The 153 colleges that the Princeton Review chose for its “Best in the Midwest” list are located in 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The Princeton Review also designated 220 colleges in the Northeast, 121 in the West and 135 in the Southeast as best in their locales. The 629 colleges listed represent only about 25 percent of the nation’s four-year institutions.