UW-River Falls Named a Best in the Midwest College by The Princeton Review

Aug. 23, 2012— The University of Wisconsin-River Falls is one of the best colleges in the Midwest according to the nationally known education services company, The Princeton Review.  It is one of 153 institutions The Princeton Review recommends in its "Best in the Midwest" section of its website feature, "2013 Best Colleges: Region by Region," that posted Aug. 20 on PrincetonReview.com.     

"We're pleased to recommend the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to users of our site as one of the best schools to earn their undergrad degree," said Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior VP / Publisher. "We chose it and the other terrific institutions we name as 'regional best' colleges mainly for their excellent academic programs. From several hundred schools in each region, we winnowed our list based on institutional data we collected directly from the schools, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of our staff, plus college counselors and advisors whose recommendations we invite. We also take into account what students at the schools reported to us about their campus experiences at them on our 80-question student survey for this project. Only schools that permit us to independently survey their students are eligible to be considered for our regional 'best' lists."   

The 153 colleges that The Princeton Review chose for its "Best in the Midwest" list are located in twelve states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Princeton Review also designated 222 colleges in the Northeast, 122 in the West, and 136 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the company's "2013 Best Colleges: Region by Region" lists.  Collectively, the 633 colleges named "regional best(s)" constitute about 25% of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges. 

For this project, The Princeton Review asks students attending the schools to rate their own schools on several issues -- from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food -- and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life. Comments from surveyed students are quoted in the school profiles on The Princeton Review site. Student comments in the profile on UW-River Falls are "a friendly atmosphere pervades classes, which are small and personal," and "the small size and ideal setting of the university—in a small town close to the Twin Cities—conspire to provide a college experience that allows one to do all that is 'college,' yet still somehow have the comfort of feeling like they are at home."   

The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com) is an education services company known for its test-prep courses, tutoring, books, and other student resources.  

For more information, contact Blake Fry, UWRF special assistant to the chancellor, at blake.fry@uwrf.edu or call 715-425-3711.