Saint Mary’s University receives ‘Best in Midwest’ honors from Princeton Review

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University is one of 159 schools receiving the “Best in the Midwest” designation for 2009 from the Princeton Review, a national college guide and ranking program. Results were announced in July.

Each year, the Princeton Review profiles colleges and universities that “uphold the standards of the Best Midwestern College distinction and provide students with a wide breadth of excellent schools to consider.” The Princeton Review survey asks students to rate their own schools on several issues — from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food — and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life. The Princeton Review is a New York City-based company known for test-preparation courses, education services and books; it is not affiliated with Princeton University.

Other Minnesota schools included on Princeton Review's 2009 “Best in the Midwest” list are: Augsburg, Carleton, Crown College, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline, Macalester, North Central University, St. Catherine, St. Olaf, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities and Crookston campuses) and Winona State University.

The 630 colleges named regional bests (212 in the Northeast, 139 in the Southeast, 159 in the Midwest, and 120 in the West) represent only about 25 percent of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges.

For more information, go to www.princetonreview.com/best-regional-colleges.aspx. The website gives a profile of Saint Mary's, along with useful college selection features.