Ripon selected by Princeton Review as a ‘Best’ college

Ripon College is one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company feature Ripon in the new 2013 edition of its annual college guide, “The Best 377 Colleges” (Random House / Princeton Review). Ripon also is listed among the “Best Midwestern” colleges in the publication’s “Best Regional Colleges” website feature.

Ripon is ranked No. 19 in “Town-Gown Relations are Great” category.

“The Princeton Review’s ranking is another important affirmation of Ripon College’s strong academic reputation and our unyielding commitment to the student experience,” said Ripon College President Zach Messitte. “We are particularly pleased to be recognized for our special relationship with the city of Ripon and know how unique it is in higher education to have this kind of partnership.”

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in the book, The Princeton Review’sflagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on The Princeton Review’ssurveys of students attending the colleges.

Among many positive comments, Ripon students surveyed for the book cited small class sizes and a lot of personal attention from professors as pluses. They described Ripon as a “tight-knit and welcoming community” and a “unique institution that helps ordinary people uncover their extraordinary potential to do great things.”

Other student comments included:

• “Ripon College is not all about sitting in a classroom listening to lectures and taking notes; it’s about teaching us to become more educated in the world around us and helping us to develop the skills needed to succeed.”
• “Ripon is a place where a student’s best interest matters; all other agendas are secondary.”
• “I was looking for a liberal arts school that allowed me to do the things I like, namely, be involved in multiple student groups, study abroad, and take classes in different fields, all of which I have been able to do at Ripon.”

The Princeton Review has posted the school profiles and ranking lists in “The Best 377 Colleges” at PrincetonReview.com. Users can find detailed information about the book, access its list, “150 Best Value Colleges for 2013,” and see its “Honor Roll” lists saluting schools that received the highest possible score, 99, for Financial Aid, Fire Safety and Green ratings.