Marist Named One Of Nations Best

(Poughkeepsie) - For the fourth year in a row, Marist 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 Best 361 Colleges, the new 2007 edition of its annual “best colleges” guide. Only about 15 percent of the four-year colleges in America, as well as two Canadian colleges, are in the book. The book’s profile on Marist commends the school for its “amazing library that is ranked among the top 20 in the country.” The guide highlights Marist’s pre-professional and career-track programs, making particular note of communications, business, and chemistry, as well as the college’s study abroad program, internship and job placement connections, and its “strong connections with IBM.”

“We chose schools for this book primarily for their outstanding academics,” says Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s vice president 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 and survey year-long. Finally, we work to have a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity, and character.” The student surveys cite Marist’s “small classes, great computer facilities, (and) great library,” and note “students are happy,”

“What makes our continued inclusion in this prestigious publication even more satisfying is that ratings by our students played a major role in Marist being listed,” said college president Dennis J. Murray. “That means students come to Marist for its quality programs, internships, faculty, and staff, receive the best education, have fun, graduate, and get good jobs.”

The Princeton Review also named the Marist College School of Management one of the “best 237 business schools” in the country and one of “the best Northeastern colleges.” The Princeton Review ranking comes days after U.S. News & World Report ranked Marist in the top tier of colleges and universities in the northern United States offering bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The college was ranked 15th out of 165 colleges and universities in that category, its highest ranking in the history of the guide. The Princeton Review does not numerically rank the colleges in its book.

Information on the schools in The Best 361 Colleges is posted on the Web site www.PrincetonReview.com. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University or the Educational Testing Service.