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Princeton Review: WIU "Best Midwestern" College for 13th Year

September 1, 2016

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL -- The number 13 is a lucky one for Western Illinois University.

For the 13th consecutive year, The Princeton Review has named Western Illinois University a "Best Midwestern College." Western is one of 156 regional universities, and one of three Illinois public institutions, named to the "Best in the Midwest" list by The Princeton Review.

The 156 colleges included in the "Best in the Midwest" list are located in 12 states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Collectively, the 649 colleges named "regional best(s)" comprise 25 percent of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges, according to The Princeton Review.

"Western has been recognized by The Princeton Review for 13 years. This is a testament to our mission of providing our students with an outstanding education and excellent support services," said President Jack Thomas.

The Princeton Review editors make the selections based on data the company collects from its survey of administrators at several hundred colleges in each region, as well as its staff visits to schools over the years and the perspectives of college counselors and advisers, whose opinions the company solicits. The selections also take into account what students at the schools report about their experiences via an in-depth survey. The Princeton Review asks students to rate their own schools on several issues, from the accessibility of their professors to the quality of the campus food and to answer questions about themselves, their fellow students and their campus lives.

Students commented that WIU's faculty members are "knowledgeable" and "usually very good, that "It is very easy to find a place where you belong" and "There's a club or sport here for everyone."

The Princeton Review also rates the schools on its "2017 Best Colleges: Region by Region" list in six categories. The rating scores (on a scale of 60 to 99) appear on the school profiles and are tallied from institutional data the company obtained from the colleges in 2015-16 and/or its student-survey data. Western received the following rating scores: Admissions Selectivity [79], Professors Interesting [72]/Professors Accessible [75], Financial Aid [72], Fire Safety [89], Quality of Life [69] and Green [75].

The Midwestern "2017 Best Colleges: Region by Region" ranking list is available at princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=best-midwestern.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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