Roanoke College makes 8th appearance in The Princeton Review

Roanoke College is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review, which features Roanoke in the just-released 2019 edition of its college guide, "The Best 384 Colleges" (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review).

Roanoke College also is included in the guidebook's lists of Great Schools for Business/Finance Majors, Great Schools for Computer Science/Computer Engineering Majors and Great Schools for Psychology Majors.

"We picked the 384 'best' colleges for our book primarily for their outstanding academics," said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's editor-in-chief and the book's lead author. "We highly recommend each one."

In its profile on Roanoke, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from Roanoke students the company surveyed for the guidebook. Among the student comments: Most agree that Roanoke "[excels] in academics and learning how to relate what is learned in the classroom to real world jobs." One student comment describes the campus atmosphere as "kind and inclusive, with many opportunities to meet new people in and out of your major or subject of interest."

Another student comment notes that Roanoke "does not hand out A's. You really have to apply yourself, and grades really reflect your effort."  Professors, comments noted, earn universal praise for being "approachable, knowledgeable" and "willing and able to work with every student."

In a "Survey Says" section in the guidebook's profile on Roanoke, The Princeton Review lists topics that students surveyed were most in agreement about in their answers to survey questions. For Roanoke, that list includes "students are happy," "recreation facilities are great," and "internships are widely available."

"The Best 384 Colleges" rankings are based on surveys of 138,000 students at 384 top colleges that includes a wide representation by region, size, selectivity and character. Published annually since 1992, the book has detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores in eight categories as well as ranking lists of top 20 schools in 62 categories. The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges from 1 to 384 in any category.

Roanoke College has appeared each year in The Princeton Review since the 2012 edition. You can find more information on the rankings and methodology here.