News Princeton Review Lauds Marlboro College's Academics

Marlboro, VT - Marlboro College is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review.  The New York-based education services company features the college in the just-published 2009 edition of its annual book, "The Best 368 Colleges" (Random House / Princeton Review, July 29, 2008, $21.95).

Marlboro's highest ratings came in regards to their Academics, scoring a 98 out of a possible 99 and ranked second overall in the category of "Class Discussions Encouraged." Ratings are calculated from student survey results and statistical information reported by administrators. Factors weighed include how many hours students study outside of the classroom, the quality of students the school attracts, and student assessments of their professors, class size, student-teacher ratio, use of teaching assistants, amount of class discussion, registration, and resources.

Other top twenty rankings demonstrated the prevailing atmosphere of the Marlboro campus community. The college ranked twelfth in "Most Liberal Students" and fourteenth in "Gay Community Accepted," while the number 6 and 9 rankings in the respective categories of "Dodgeball Targets" and "Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent" speaks to its absence of Greek system of fraternities and sororities and organized athletics.

"It's a great thing to be perceived by students for the strengths we emphasize ourselves, mostly our academic rigor and our engaged class discussion," said Marlboro College president Ellen McCulloch-Lovell. "We appreciate the humor that the Princeton Review brings to the dry ratings game. It's always good to celebrate our strengths and smile about our college culture."

Only about 15% of America's 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are in the book.  It has two-page profiles of the schools and student survey-based ranking lists of top 20 colleges in more than 60 categories.  The Princeton Review also posts the book's ranking lists on its website, www. PrincetonReview.com, at which users can read FAQs about the book.

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.  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.

The school profiles in "The Best 368 Colleges" also have school ratings in eight categories. The ratings are numerical scores on a scale of 60 to 99 based largely on school-reported data collected during the 2007-08 academic year. Rating categories include Admissions Selectivity, Financial Aid, Fire Safety, and a new Green rating that The Princeton Review developed in partnership with ecoAmerica, a DC-based environmental organization. The Green rating is based on several criteria concerning environmental policies and practices reported by the colleges to The Princeton Review.

For more information, please contact the Marlboro College Public Relations Department at (802) 251-7644, or visit www.marlboro.edu.

Founded in 1946, Marlboro College offers undergraduate education in the liberal arts and, since 1997, graduate study focused on Internet technologies. Its 330 undergraduate students enjoy an 8:1 student-faculty ratio, a voice in governing the community and individualized courses of study on a 350-acre campus in the hills of southern Vermont.

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