FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas finds itself included among the top colleges and universities in the country in the 2006 edition of The Princeton Review’s “Best 361 Colleges.” The university is Arkansas’s only public institution named in the publication, which arrived in bookstores today. Hendrix College, a private institution in Conway, Ark., was also included in the guide.

“I am pleased to see that the University of Arkansas is once again named among the best institutions nationally by The Princeton Review,” said Chancellor John A. White. “It is encouraging to see that the university compares favorably when measured against its peers academically, and I want to congratulate the members of the faculty and staff for their continued commitment to making the University of Arkansas nationally competitive.”

“The main factor in our selection of schools in the book was our high regard for their academic programs,” said Robert Franek, vice president of publishing for The Princeton Review. “We evaluated them based on institutional data we collect about the schools, feedback from students and visits to schools over the years. We also considered the opinions of independent college counselors, students and parents we talk to and survey. Finally, we worked to have a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character.”

The university’s scores (based on a scale of 60-99) are as follows:

• Quality of Life Rating — how happy students are outside of the classroom — 76
• Fire Safety Rating (New Category) — how prepared the institution is to respond to a fire on campus, specifically in a residence hall — 76
• Academic Rating — how hard students work at school and how much they get in return for their efforts — 72
• Admissions Rating — how competitive admission is at the institution — 86
• Financial Aid Rating — based on school-reported data on financial aid and awards to students and students’ satisfaction with what aid they receive — 72

While comparisons with previous editions to determine improvement or declination is often common, editors with The Princeton Review altered the scoring system for the publication one year ago in an effort to create a more accurate depiction and comparison between the ranked institutions. For the most recent edition of the “Best 361 Colleges,” factors for the scoring system were once again altered.

According to the guide’s editors, “Our six ratings were determined using the results from our student surveys as well as institutionally-reported data. Six ratings are on a scale of 60-99. Each individual rating places each college on a continuum for purposes of comparing all colleges within this edition only. Although they are similar, these ratings are not intended to be compared directly to those within any prior edition, as our ratings computations are somewhat refined and change annually.”The 2006 edition’s rankings are based on surveys of 110,000 students at the 361 schools included within the book during the 2004-05 and/or previous two school years.

The 70-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their experiences at them. Topics include: academics/administration, life at the school, their fellow students and themselves. Surveys are conducted on campuses and via the Princeton Review Web site, where students have the option of completing a secure survey online.

The following table lists the university's academic ratings among SEC institutions and projections of where it would rank among major institutions in three other athletic conferences:

SEC                      Big 12                 PAC-10                          Big 10

Florida 77              Baylor 79            Cal-Berkley 89                Michigan 83    

Alabama 74           Texas 76             Southern Cal. 88             Wisconsin 81

Georgia 74             Kansas St. 75      Stanford 86                     Northwestern 77

ARKANSAS 72   Oklahoma 74       Washington 79                 Illinois 76

Auburn 72             Colorado 73        Oregon 75                       Penn St. 75

Vanderbilt 72         Kansas 73           UCLA 75                        Iowa 74

Kentucky 72          Texas A&M 73   Wash. St. 74                   Minnesota 74

Tennessee 71       ARKANSAS 72    ARKANSAS 72             Indiana 74       

Ole Miss 70           Iowa St. 72         Arizona St. 71                 Michigan St. 73

Louisiana St. 70     Nebraska 71       Arizona 61                       Ohio St. 72

S. Carolina 70        Missouri NR        Oregon St. NR                ARKANSAS 72

Miss. St. NR          Okla. St. NR                                              Purdue 70

                              Texas Tech NR                              

In its profile of the university, The Princeton Review notes that elementary education and teaching, finance and marketing/marketing management are among the most popular majors. In its discussion of the campus’s inclusiveness, the profile quotes one international student as saying, “The university does a wonderful job at bringing [foreign students] into the community through the International Students’ Office. For instance, I was part of a Conversation Group during my freshman year that met once a week to help us become comfortable with speaking English.”