Nation

Princeton Review ranks UH as one of nation’s best

Through its continual rise as a Tier One institute, UH has now been ranked as one of the nation’s best universities for undergraduate education and was featured in the 2014 edition of the annual Princeton Review’s college guide, “The Best 378 Colleges.”

“In order to be ranked in our book, the school has to be academically excellent and we have to know the students’ sentiment verifying what we know as academic excellence,” said David Soto, content director of the college guide book.

Rather than ranking the colleges academically from one to 378, the Princeton Review reports the book features 62 ranking lists of 20 colleges in various categories. Each ranking list reports the top 20 colleges — of the 378 in the book — in a specific category. The lists are entirely based on the Princeton Review’s survey of 126,000 students — about 333 per campus on average — attending the colleges.

“UH is on its way up. You can see it in the construction, you can feel it in the classroom and you can hear it around the campus. The ranking from Princeton Review only solidifies what all proud Cougars know and feel — that we have what it takes to compete nationally in the job market, in the sports department and in our rising academics,” said biochemistry sophomore Omar Ali.

The 80-question survey presented by the Princeton Review asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their financial aid.

“I’m proud that we continue to be recognized as one of the country’s top universities for undergraduate education,” said President Renu Khator in a press release. “This confirms that our commitment to student success is producing tangible results. I’m particularly pleased with the positive reactions to our ongoing improvements in the quality of life on campus.”

The official surveys are conducted more often than once every three years. In addition, surveys received from students outside of their schools’ normal survey cycles are always factored into the subsequent year’s ranking calculations, so the pool of student survey data is continuously refreshed.

“Our purpose is not to crown one college ‘best’ overall, but to give applicants the resources and campus feedback they need to choose, get into, pay for and graduate with a job from the college that’s best for them,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president and the publisher and author of “The Best 378 Colleges.”

“The University of Houston offers outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our choice of schools for the book.”

A college’s appearance on a ranking list in the book is entirely the result of what its own students surveyed. The Princeton Review reported about the students campus experiences, as well as how they rated various aspects of their college life.

“I think that the growth of UH is something that can be attributed to the diverse background that Houston has. I came to Houston to be exposed to a city and university that is ever-changing and always looking for innovation,” said liberal arts sophomore Samuel Junior Marquez.

UH students who want to participate in the survey for the next edition of the Princeton Review book can do so at survey.review.com

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