W&M's library, community engagement lauded by Princeton Review
William & Mary is among the best colleges in the nation and can boast one of the top libraries and commitments to community engagement, as well, according to a report issued by The Princeton Review yesterday.
The university is included in the Review’s annual guide to the nation’s best colleges, and it also landed on two of the book’s top-20 rankings. William & Mary is ninth on the list of colleges where the students are most engaged in community service and 17th on the list of best college libraries.
The top-20 rankings were based on surveys sent to 136,000 students at the 380 colleges in the book in 2014-15 and/or the previous two school years.
Although The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges included in its guide outside of its top-20 lists, it does issue ratings in a variety of areas for each school profiled in the book. The ratings – scores from 60 to 99 – are based primarily on data from the company's surveys of administrators at the colleges in 2014-15.
This year, William & Mary received a 94 for its quality-of-life rating, a 93 for fire safety and a 92 for academics. The university also received a 96 for admissions, a 74 for financial aid and a green rating of 84.
The profile of William & Mary says that students at the university “are extraordinarily happy with their overall experience and with their academics in particular.” The profile also highlights the sense of community at William & Mary, and the eclectic student body.
“William & Mary achieves a remarkable balance between the dynamic, progressive academics of a liberal arts college and the strong sense of history and tradition one would expect from America’s second-oldest school,” the profile reports one student saying.
The new college guide was released less than a week after Forbes unveiled its own college rankings, which listed William & Mary third among state schools.
More information on The Princeton Review’s rankings is available online, and the new book, The Best 380 Colleges, goes on sale today.