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Sweet Briar Ranked a Private College "Best Value" in Princeton Review Survey

Sweet Briar College — long a staple at the top of the Princeton Review's annual lists for measures of student engagement and its career placement services — has earned a new distinction in the publication's rankings. It has been named one of the nation's 50 "Best Value" private colleges and universities.

The Princeton Review and USA TODAY published the list, "The Princeton Review Best Value Colleges for 2010," Jan. 12 on their Web sites. The list features 50 public and 50 private colleges and universities. Of the 50 institutions in each category, the first 10 are listed in ranked order. The remaining 40 appear alphabetically.

The rankings are based on surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private schools. The selection criteria covered more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs of attendance and financial aid, using the most recently reported data from each institution for its 2008-09 academic year.

The complete list of 100 colleges and universities may be viewed at the Princeton Review and USA TODAY Web sites. USA TODAY's site allows users to view in-depth details about the schools, including cost of attendance and financial aid data, enrollment size, location and the Review's analysis of why each school was chosen as a "Best Value" college.

"I'm pleased Sweet Briar has been recognized in this way," said dean of admissions Ken Huus. "Graduates, especially recent graduates, consistently share the opinion that they emerge from Sweet Briar better prepared for whatever they do after college — graduate programs, their jobs or careers — than many of those around them, and I think Sweet Briar's inclusion as a 'Best Value' validates that opinion."

Sweet Briar is one of two private colleges in Virginia to make the Review's "Best Value" list.

Sweet Briar is South's 14th Best College, According to Forbes

Forbes magazine has placed Sweet Briar at No. 14 on its new list of the 20 "Best Colleges in the South."

The list is derived from Forbes' and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity's ranking of "America's Best Colleges," where Sweet Briar appeared at No. 69. That list was published in August 2009.

To determine the best schools in the South, the publishers cut the original list according to regional divisions used by the U.S. Census Bureau; schools in the South are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Sweet Briar Remains in Top-20 Lists in 2009 Princeton Review

In the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review's guide book, "The Best 368 Colleges," Sweet Briar staked out territory in five of the top-20 category lists.

The College came in at No. 2 for "Most Accessible Professors" and "Most Beautiful Campus," No. 6 for "Best Career/Job Placement Services," No. 7 for "Professors Get High Marks" and No. 11 for "Class Discussions Encouraged."

The rankings are based on students' responses to the Princeton Review's 80-question survey asking about academics, administration, campus life, student body and themselves. About 120,000 students attending the 368 schools listed in the book completed the survey for the 2009 edition.

The schools in the book are not ranked academically nor are they ranked 1 to 368 in any single category.

The Review compiles top-20 lists in 62 categories "based on what students at the schools (their customers) report to us about them," Princeton Review author Robert Franek said in a press release.

"We also compile rating scores in eight categories based on institutional data we collect. We believe college applicants need to know far more about schools than an academic ranking to identify which colleges may be best for them. It's all about the fit."

The new rankings and profiles of the 368 schools are posted at the Princeton Review Web site. To see the rankings, visit www.princetonreview.com.

Sweet Briar Receives Top Scores in 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement

The 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results are in, and Sweet Briar remains at the head of the class in student engagement.

SBC outperformed other U.S. colleges and universities in the liberal arts college sectors, and exceeded the national average on all five key NSSE measures. In fact, among seniors the College scored in the top 10 percent of all institutions that participated in the 2007 survey on all five benchmarks.

The NSSE survey was developed from data indicating that students who put more time and energy into activities that matter to their education — both inside and outside the classroom — learn more during college than those who are not as involved. First-year students and seniors are asked to respond to questions that measure five empirically proven benchmarks of learning.

Sweet Briar's 2007 NSSE results confirm that our students are getting what they came here for — a quality education.

Sweet Briar Joins Web-based Information Network to Share, Compare Data

Sweet Briar College is one of more than 600 private higher education institutions to be profiled in the University & College Accountability Network launched Sept. 26, 2007, by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

As of the launch date, about 440 colleges and universities, including Sweet Briar had published their profiles to the network, which NAICU has dubbed U-CAN.

U-CAN is a Web-based source for comprehensive information about participating colleges and universities. It was developed over the past year in response to pressure from the U.S. Congress, Department of Education and the public to provide transparent facts, figures and institutional characteristics to prospective students and their parents.

U-CAN does not rank institutions. The information provided in the two-page profile on each school is derived from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System survey and the Common Data Set. Participating institutions contribute narrative sections in addition to data.

The data include admission rates, enrollment, academics, student demographics, graduation rates, most common fields of study, transfer credit policy, accreditation, faculty information, class size, tuition and fees trends, price of attendance, financial aid, campus housing, student life and campus safety.

To access Sweet Briar's U-CAN profile, go to www.ucan-network.org.