Calvin News

Calvin College again is considered one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education. The Princeton Review, a New York-based education services company, will feature Calvin in "The Best 361 Colleges," the new 2007 edition of its annual best colleges guide, slated to be released tomorrow.

Calvin is one of seven schools from the state of Michigan in "The Best 361 Colleges." The others are Albion, Hillsadale, Kalamazoo, Michigan State, Michigan and Michigan Tech. Only about 15 percent of the nation's four-year colleges are included in the guide (for the 2007 edition two new schools were selected for the guide and two schools previously in the guide were removed).

Says Robert Franek, a publisher and editorial director with The Princeton Review: "We consider these colleges the best in the nation academically. But the real challenge for applicants and parents is finding the college that's best for them. We don't think one school is best overall. We recommend all 361 schools in this book as outstanding undergraduate institutions. They all offer a great education but they differ widely."

Calvin's profile includes a succinct summary of the school's Christian mission, based on surveys of 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. The Calvin profile also includes a telling student quote about life in the classroom: "Academics here are rigorous, to say the least, but they're interesting and led by the most wonderful professors."

In addition to being one of just 361 schools in the guide, Calvin also was named to several of the quirky rankings lists that annually mark the release of "The Best 361 Colleges." The lists are based on The Princeton Review's survey of 115,000 students attending the colleges in the book. Students rated their schools on various 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 seven lists for 2007, including: scotch & soda, hold the scotch (#9); stone-cold sober schools (#10); students pray on a regular basis (#13); future rotarians and daughters of the American revolution (#14); got milk? (#14); don't inhale (#15) and alternative lifestyle not an alternative (#19).

The Princeton Review notes, however, that those rankings are not a comparison vs every school in the country, but rather denote where schools fit in when compared only to the other schools in the 2007 guide.