Elon University is again ranked among the nation’s top colleges in the 2005 edition of The Princeton Review’s “The Best 357 Colleges” guide. For the second year in a row, Elon makes the publication’s list for having one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation.
Elon earned its highest ranking score ever in academic quality, scoring 92 points on a 100 point scale. Here are the academic ranking scores for the 11 North Carolina schools listed in this year’s Princeton Review guide:
1. Davidson College – 98
2. Wake Forest University – 95
3. Elon University – 92
4. Duke University – 91
5. Guilford College – 88
6. University of North Carolina at Asheville – 88
7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – 86
8. Warren Wilson College – 86
9. Catawba College – 84
10. North Carolina State University – 75
11. University of North Carolina at Greensboro – 72
Princeton Review ranks academic quality based on surveys of students and administrators, measuring number of hours students study, the quality of students and how they rated the ability and helpfulness of faculty members.
Students quoted in the Princeton Review said faculty members are readily available outside the classroom. According to Princeton Review, “Elon’s professors tend to focus on hands-on and interactive learning, which means that ‘in the classroom, many professors do not lecture, but pose questions for the class to respond to.'”
This year’s guide ranks Elon’s campus the 18th most beautiful in the nation, the only North Carolina school to be on the top-20 list.
Princeton Review also includes Elon in its “Best in the Southeast” publication. The Princeton Review guides include input from more than 100,000 college-aged students across the country. It is regarded by parents and college admissions officers as one of the most prestigious and widely read college guides.