VIDEO: Princeton Review Selects UC Among the Nation s Best

The University of Cincinnati is one of the best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based company known for its test-prep courses, books and other education services has selected UC for inclusion in its popular “best colleges” guidebook. The guidebook, titled, The Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition, is coming to bookstores in late August. The Princeton Review posts the book’s ranking lists and excerpts from the college profiles on its Web site.

“Only about 10 percent of the colleges in America are in this book,” says Robert Franek, vice president and publisher for The Princeton Review. “It is our flagship guide to ‘the crème of the crop’ institutions for undergraduates. We chose them as our ‘best’ based on several criteria including our regard for their academic programs and other offerings, institutional data we collect from the schools and the opinions of students, parents and educators we talk to and survey.”

In a letter to UC President Nancy L. Zimpher, Franek stated that UC was among only eight new schools receiving the “Best 366 Colleges” designation. “The University of Cincinnati clearly fit the criteria we were looking for, and we are pleased to include it in the edition of our new book,” Franek wrote. The 2007 edition, published in 2006 and titled The Best 361 Colleges, named UC as one of the “Best in the Midwest.”

“It’s terrific to know that the word is spreading about the great university we have here at UC,” said President Nancy L. Zimpher. “We are thrilled with this recognition from The Princeton Review.”

UC Admissions reports that UC is anticipating its largest freshman class in decades this fall, with more than 4,100 freshmen. The total enrollment of 36,500 students is the highest UC student population since 1991, says Caroline Miller, associate vice president of Enrollment Management.

Thomas Canepa, UC assistant vice president for Undergraduate Admissions, reports, “visits from prospective students and their parents are up by more than 50 percent, the residence halls are full with more than 75 percent of our new freshmen making the choice to live on campus, and we’ve had a summer packed with energized new students at orientation sessions.”

Among the Princeton Review criteria are qualities that make UC stand out from the rest:

• In addition to top-ranked colleges such as the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning and the College-Conservatory of Music, UC is recognized for its opportunities for undergraduate research and a revised Honors Scholars Program to emphasize experiential learning.
• In terms of experiential learning, UC is the birthplace of cooperative education, allowing students to blend what they learn in the classroom with paid experience on the job.
• UC’s commitment to community was recognized by the Carnegie Foundation when it was named an “Outreach and Partnership” institution by the foundation.

The Princeton Review also bases its selections on reports from its student survey collection department, which sends representatives to campus to directly survey students about their college experience. UC, says one student, “will satisfy those looking to get a great education and the opportunities to build a great resume’ filled with experience through the school’s co-op program.”

“We present a wide range of colleges in the book,” says Franek. “They vary by region, size, selectivity and character, but each one is an outstanding institution we recommend to our readers and users of our Web site.”

What sets The Princeton Review’s annual “Best Colleges” guide apart from all other college guides is that it is the only one offering two-page profiles on the schools, as well as college ranking lists in more than 60 categories that are based on surveys of more than 115,000 students who rate their own schools and report on their experiences at them. The ranking lists report the top 20 colleges in the book in categories that range from academics to financial aid to aspects of the campus culture. (The Princeton Review itself does not rank colleges in the book, 1-to-366). The book’s narrative profiles also include candid comments from students that The Princeton Review surveyed at each school. Published by Random House/Princeton Review Books, the paperback college guide costs $21.95.

UC opened the application window for fall 2008 on August 1. Applications must be received by Dec. 15, 2007, for scholarship consideration.

* International undergraduate students may apply for the UC Global Scholarship; the deadline for this scholarship is June 1, 2008.

Video alert: Click below to watch UC Grounds Maintenance Employee Jim Conners removing UC's old "Best in the Midwest" window stickers at University Pavilion and replacing them with the Princeton Review's "Best in the Nation."