“The Best 382 Colleges,” published by Princeton Review, has once again included Ithaca College as one of the country’s top institutions for undergraduate education. The annual guide also gives IC high marks in three categories with direct links to the college’s degree programs, ranking it #3 for best college newspaper, #3 for best college theatre and #6 for best college radio station.
The just-released 2018 edition of the guide features only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and universities. Published annually since 1992, it contains detailed profiles of the colleges, with rating scores in eight categories and ranking lists in 62 categories.
In its profile of Ithaca College, the guide notes that small class sizes that afford plenty of personal attention and outstanding scholarship opportunities are among the reasons to choose Ithaca, along with professors who are “really engaging and understand how to present the material so that it is relevant and meaningful.”
Ithaca College’s student newspaper, The Ithacan, is based in the Roy H. Park School of Communications and has been a consistent winner of national awards from such organizations as the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Associated Collegiate Press.
Also based in the Park School are the college’s two student-operated radio stations — 92 WICB and VIC Radio. They provide award-winning music, public affairs and sports programming to the local community as well as worldwide via the Internet.
Ithaca College offers five academic majors in the Department of Theatre Arts, which is based in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Undergraduate students annually present a half dozen main-stage productions — ranging from classic and contemporary drama to opera to dance — through the professionally modeled Ithaca College Theatre, while a number of student-run groups produce work around campus and in the community.
“We chose Ithaca College for this book because it offers outstanding academics,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s editor in chief. “Our selections are primarily based on our surveys of administrators at several hundred four-year colleges. 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.”
The Princeton Review is an education services company known for its test-prep courses, tutoring, guidebooks and other student resources. The school profiles and ranking lists can be found by going to PrincetonReview.com/best382.