ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. (July 28, 2008)—St. Mary's College of Maryland is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company known for its test-prep courses 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).
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.
In its profile on St. Mary's College of Maryland, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from St. Mary's students surveyed for the book. Among their candid comments on the college: "Set on the beautiful St. Mary's River, St. Mary's College of Maryland is a humble oasis that has all of the intellectual stimulation of a private liberal arts school with none of the academic rivalry."
In the "Princeton Review Says" section, the book's authors write, "There are few better choices than St. Mary's for better-than-average students…. Now is the time to take advantage, before academic expectations of the Admissions Committee start to soar." St. Mary's College of Maryland is on the following ranking lists in the 2009 edition of the book: Lots of Race/Class Interaction; Gay Community Accepted; and Happiest Students.
Said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's V.P., Publishing, "We chose schools for this book primarily for their outstanding academics. 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."
The Princeton Review is a New York-based company known for its test preparation, education, and college admission services. It is not affiliated with Princeton University and it is not a magazine.