ASU Again Recognized in Princeton Review’s ‘Best Colleges’
August 03, 2017
For the ninth consecutive year, Angelo State University has been listed by The Princeton Review as one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, an honor that goes to only about 15 percent of the nation’s more than 2,500 four-year colleges.
The education services company features Angelo State in the 2018 edition of its annual college guide, “The Best 382 Colleges,” published Aug. 1 by Random House. The guide is The Princeton Review’s (TPR) flagship publication and includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight areas, based on surveys of 137,000 students nationally.
“We really hang our hat on making The Princeton Review’s ‘Best Colleges’ list because it’s based mainly on feedback from our students,” said ASU President Brian J. May. “The entire Ram Family works hard to ensure that our students get a great education, opportunities for personal growth and preparation for their future careers. Recognition by The Princeton Review is a direct indication from our students that we are succeeding, and for educators, that is the highest praise of all.”
“Angelo State is dedicated to cultivating opportunities and excellence in education and service for its students, and I am proud a university of this caliber is a member of the Texas Tech University System,” said TTU System Chancellor Robert Duncan. “This recognition is a testament to the hard work and passion of Dr. May and every member of Angelo State’s faculty and staff. Congratulations to all.”
TPR also listed Angelo State among the “Great Schools” for two of the top 20 most popular undergraduate majors, agriculture and nursing. On a scale of 60-99, ASU also received a Quality of Life Rating of 91 and a Fire Safety Rating of 96.
The 80-question TPR survey asks students to rate their own schools on numerous topics and report on their campus experiences. Topics range from assessments of their professors to campus activities. Based on those questions, ASU ranked No. 13 on the guide’s list for “Town-Gown Relations are Great” and ASU students showed up on the guide’s list of “Most Conservative Students” at No. 15 nationally.
“Outstanding academics” are the chief reason a university is included in the annual college guide, according to Robert Franek, author of “The Best 382 Colleges” and TPR’s editor-in-chief.
“Our selections are primarily based on our surveys of administrators at several hundred four-year colleges,” Franek said. “We also visit dozens of colleges each year and give considerable weight to opinions of our staff and our 24-member National College Counselor Advisory Board. Most importantly, we look at valuable feedback we get from each school’s customers – our surveys of students attending them. We also keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character.”
ASU was one of 13 Texas universities to make the 2018 list. The other institutions were Austin College, Baylor University, Rice, SMU, Southwestern University, TCU, Texas A&M University, Trinity University, University of Dallas, University of Houston, University of Texas and University of Texas at Dallas. The list includes five public and eight private institutions.
The latest guide states that “Angelo State is ‘committed to providing big-time opportunities with a small-school atmosphere.’ Students commend the ‘committed professors teaching small classes that prepare students for their careers,’ noting that their instructors are ‘willing to help solve a problem or talk about the material.’ Angelo State is ‘an amazingly diverse mixture of traditional and non-traditional students,’ and around campus, ‘everyone knows everyone and you become a big family.’”
In addition to making The Princeton Review’s list of “The Best 382 Colleges,” ASU was among the institutions in 15 western states listed in TPR’s “Best Western” website feature at www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=best-western.