Princeton Review among publications that rank UNE as a top college

The University of New England recently received accolades from three publications that rank institutions of higher education. For the second consecutive year, UNE has been included in the Princeton Review’s Best 381 Colleges guide. This highly-selective publication includes only the top 15 percent of four-year colleges and universities in the United States. Additionally, the university was named one of America’s Top Colleges for 2016 by Forbes and as one of the Best Colleges for Your Money by MONEY magazine.

UNE President Danielle Ripich said, “It’s a tremendous honor to be included in these rankings of the nation’s very best colleges and universities because we take great pride in the quality education we provide to our students. Our faculty, staff and students are committed to innovation for a healthier planet, and these acknowledgments confirm for us that word of our dedication is spreading.”

UNE was selected for the Best 381 Colleges guide based on its high-quality academic offerings, optimal locations in Maine and Morocco, competitive cost and size. UNE’s profile in the guide details its admission requirements and academic offerings while providing other information about the experiences UNE offers students.

The Best 381 Colleges guide selects schools on the basis of academic quality, student survey data, and its commitment to providing a balanced representation of colleges by region, size, character and type. More than 100,000 students participated in the surveys, rating schools on the quality of their academic offerings and administration, campus life and overall environment.

Both the Forbes and MONEY lists focus heavily on students’ return on investment (ROI), rather than on the selectivity of the educational institutions, ranking schools not on how difficult they are to get into but, rather, on the value of graduating from them.  As Forbes explains, “This list of 660 schools distinguishes itself from competitors by our belief in ‘output’ over ‘input.’ Meaning, we’re not interested in what gets a student into college, like our peers who focus heavily on selectivity metrics such as high school class rank, SAT scores and the like. Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting out of college?”

Forbes partnered with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity to prepare its list. Five factors were used to calculate rank: post-graduate success, student debt, student satisfaction, graduation rate and academic success.

MONEY determined its rankings by giving equal weight to quality of education (including factors like graduation rates and instructor quality), affordability (by examining student debt and loan default rates), and outcomes (which takes into account graduates’ incomes).