Saint Michael's is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review, which today published the 2009 edition of its book "The Best 368 Colleges," with Random House. Only 15 percent of America's 2,500 four-year colleges are in the book, which is often used by students and parents in the college search process. The book gives two-page profiles of each school, and student-survey-based ranking lists of top 20 colleges in some 60 categories. The Princeton Review also posts the book's ranking lists on its Web site at
www.PrincetonReview.com.
"We chose schools for this book primarily for their outstanding academics," said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's VP for publishing. "We evaluated them based on institutional data we collect about the schools, feedback from students attending them, and our visits to schools over the years. We also consider the opinions of independent college counselors, students, and parents we hear from year-long. Finally, we work to have a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."
In its profile on Saint Michael's, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from Saint Michael's students. Among their comments on the college: "Study abroad is huge.....ciences are very popular.....Coursework at SMC can be very challenging.....Rarely do you have a class larger than 30 students.....the administration and professors are all very open and welcoming to every student.....professors are really passionate and devoted to the subjects they teach.....they are available outside of class.....you cannot be bored on this campus.....the Wilderness Program runs trips each weekend.....it's really close knit socially....."
The ranking lists in "The Best 368 Colleges" are based on The Princeton Review's survey of 120,000 students (about 325 per campus on average) attending the 368 colleges in the book. According to the publisher, "A college's appearance on these lists is attributable to a high consensus among its surveyed students about the subject."
The 80-question survey asked students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Ranking lists report the top 20 schools in categories that range from best professors, administration, and campus food to lists based on student body political leanings, race/class relations, sports interests, and other aspects of campus life. The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book 1 to 368 in any category, nor do the rankings reflect The Princeton Review's opinion of the schools.
Saint Michael's is on the following ranking lists in the 2009 edition of the book: 4th position in the "Town-Gown Relations are Great" category and 14th in the "Best Quality of Life" category.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's
Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2008
U.S. News & World Report rankings.