Pitzer College Featured in the Princeton Review College Guide, The Best 361 Colleges - 2006 Edition

Claremont, Calif. (August 23, 2005) – Pitzer College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company features the college in The Best 361 Colleges, the new 2006 edition of its annual "best colleges" guide. Only about 15% of the four-year colleges in America and two Canadian colleges are in the book.

The book's profile on Pitzer College commends the school for its small classes, friendly and happy students and politically active students. In addition, the book describes the typical Pitzer undergrad as “passionate, creative, dynamic, and socially involved.” Pitzer College was ranked ninth most politically active and ninth for lots of race/class interaction on the ranking lists in the new edition of the book.

The college profiles in The Best 361 Colleges also include candid comments from students surveyed at the schools. Among the student comments in the profile on Pitzer College: “No one tells you what to do or how much to read; everyone just does it because they want to learn.” Those who adapt to the system love how it is very easy to design your own course work, curriculum and major.”

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

The ranking lists in The Best 361 Colleges are based on The Princeton Review's survey of 110,000 students attending the colleges in the book. Students rated their schools on several topics and reported on their campus experiences at them. Ranking list categories range from best professors, administration and campus food to lists based on student body political leanings, interests in sports and other aspects of campus life.

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Pitzer College is a nationally top ranked undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences. A member of The Claremont Colleges, Pitzer offers a distinctive approach to a liberal education by linking intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility and community involvement.