Calvin News

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 "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.