Calvin Again Ranked by Princeton Review

August 22, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin College again is considered one of the nation's best institutions for
undergraduate education by the Princeton Review.

The New York-based education services company features Calvin in "The Best 361
Colleges, the new 2006 edition of its annual "best colleges" guide slated to be
released tomorrow.

Only about 15 percent of the nation's four-year colleges are included in the
book which has both two-page profiles of the schools and student survey-based
ranking lists of top 20 colleges in the book in various categories.

Calvin's profile includes a succinct summary of the school's Christian
mission, as stated by Calvin students.

Calvin, says The Princeton Review, has an emphasis on taking ownership of
one's faith which encourages students to think about how their faith integrates
with all other parts of their life, including academics. One student notes
that Calvin "provides a fantastic Christian education for little money,
compared to other private schools."

Says Robert Franek, a vice president with The Princeton Review: "The main
factor in our selection of schools in the book was our high regard for their
academic programs. We evaluated them based on institutional data we collect
about the schools, feedback from students at them and visits to schools over
the years. We also considered the opinions of independent college counselors,
students and parents we talk to and survey."

The ranking lists in The Best 361 Colleges are based on The Princeton Review's
survey of 110,000 students attending the colleges in the book. Students rated
their schools on several topics and reported on their campus experiences at
them.

Ranking list categories range from best professors, administration and campus
food to lists based on student body political leanings, interests in sports and
other aspects of campus life such as party schools and non-party schools.

Calvin annually appears in several such categories and this year is no
exception. Calvin appears in six lists for 2006, including:

# 9 - Scotch & soda, hold the scotch (hard liquor usage reported low)
#11 - Stone-cold sober schools
#14 - Students pray on a regular basis (most religious students)
#15 - Don't inhale (marijuana usage reported low)
#15 - Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution
#15 - Got milk? (beer usage reported low)

Calvin vice president Tom McWhertor notes that those rankings are not a
comparison vs every school in the country, but rather denote where the schools
fit in when compared only to the 357 schools in the 2005 guide.

Calvin director of admissions Dale Kuiper adds that rankings guides, in
general, provide a helpful service if they are not taken too seriously.

"The data the guides provide can be helpful to high school students, parents,
guidance counselors and others," he says. "Some of them provides a convenient
collection of criteria like graduation rates, first-year retention rates, size
of classes and student-faculty ratio. But those are only a few of the many ways
that should be used to measure whether a student will fit well with a
particular college."

The Princeton Review posts the book's ranking lists on its website at
www.PrincetonReview.com

Contact Tom McWhertor at 616-526-6650 or Dale Kuiper at 526-6110
  
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Received on Mon Aug 22 16:58:09 2005