The College of New Jersey remains one of America’s “Best Value” colleges and universities according to The Princeton Review. The MA-based education services company profiles TCNJ in its just-published book, “The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition” and on a special area on its website at http://www.princetonreview.com/best-value-colleges.aspx
In its profile of TCNJ, the editors at The Princeton Review praise the school for its “strong foundation of core requirements” and quote from TCNJ students surveyed by the Princeton Review who described the College as “low cost and provides a ton of opportunities to try new things.” Another student boasted, “Many of my friends… got into very prestigious schools…but chose TCNJ because of its unbeatable cost.”
Says Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s Senior VP/Publisher and lead author of The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition, “We commend The College of New Jersey and all of the extraordinary colleges on our 2012 ‘Best Value Colleges’ list for all they are doing to keep costs down and offer generous aid to applicants with financial need – all while maintaining excellent academic programs.”
The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition, subtitled “The 150 Best Buy Colleges and What It Takes to Get In,” features profiles of 75 public and 75 private colleges with detailed information about their campus culture, facilities and financial aid offerings. Of the 75 schools in each group, the top 10 colleges are ranked 1 to 10, and the remaining 65 are listed in alphabetical order. The book also has a section with profiles of 10 tuition-free institutions, plus guidance on how to gain admission to the schools.
The “Best Value Colleges” list and information about the schools are also posted on a dedicated area of USATODAY.com, which has been the Princeton Review’s online publishing partner for this project since 2009. USA TODAY’s site (http://bestvaluecolleges.usatoday.com) features an exclusive database that allows users to view in-depth details about the schools by clicking on an interactive map. Users can explore criteria including cost of attendance and financial aid data, enrollment size, location and The Princeton Review’s analysis of why it chose each school as a “Best Value.”
The Princeton Review selected its “Best Value Colleges” schools based on institutional data and student opinion surveys collected from 650 colleges and universities the Company regards as the nation’s academically best undergraduate institutions. The selection process analyzed more than 30 data points broadly covering academics, cost, and financial aid. Cost and financial aid data came from the Company’s fall 2011 surveys of school administrators. Data on academics came from its fall 2010 through fall 2011 surveys of school administrators. Data from students attending the schools over these years included their assessments of their professors and their satisfaction with their financial aid awards.
The Company is also known for its annual college rankings in 62 categories (http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx) it reports in its book, The Best 376 Colleges, which is published in August, and its annual business and law school rankings in 11 categories (http://www.princetonreview.com/business-school-rankings.aspx) it reports in its graduate school guidebooks in October.
The Princeton Review debuted its “Best Value Colleges” list in 2004. It previously published an annual book titled America’s Best Value Colleges from 2004 to 2007.