KeyFacts
Founded: 1853
Type of Institution: Coeducational, private, comprehensive university in suburban Philadelphia
Enrollment: Over 3,000 students, including 1,400 full-time undergraduates, more than 400 part-time undergraduates and more than 1,200 graduate students
Faculty: 306 faculty members. Eighty-five percent of full-time assistant, associate, and full professors hold doctoral or terminal degrees.
Student/Faculty Ratio: 12-1
Degrees Offered: B.A., B.F.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., and doctoral degrees in more than 40 majors.
Study Abroad: Students can study abroad in Australia, England, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, or Wales.
Residence Halls: Seven residence halls house more than 950 students and offer a variety of housing options.
Prestigious Princeton Review Ranks Arcadia University among Top Universities in the Mid-Atlantic Region—Arcadia in Top 17 Percent of Colleges in Nation
Arcadia University has been ranked among the top 98 schools in the Mid-Atlantic region by The Princeton Review, which publishes some of the nation's premier rankings. The rankings are done through anonymous surveys of current students.
"It's a great honor to be named by The Princeton Review, one of the most used guidebooks for students looking for higher education," says Dennis Nostrand, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Arcadia. "Unlike other rankings, this is solely the opinion of students on our campus; to prospective students, those opinions are the most important and truthful ones to consider when selecting colleges."
For several years, The Princeton Review has compiled The Best 351 Colleges guide but decided to expand into regional guides this year, citing a recent study in which more than half of students surveyed nationally would rather attend a college within driving distance of their home. In the regional guides, the nation is broken into five segments: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and West. In all, 604 schools are ranked in the guides, representing just 17 percent of the nation's 3,500 schools.
"Each college had to meet two criteria," says Robert Franek, lead author of the guides. "First, it had to meet our criteria for academic excellence within its region. Second, we had to be able to survey its students anonymously, either through our online survey or our paper survey that we distribute and collect."
The survey asked students 70 questions about the school's academics, campus life, student body, and themselves. The answers are compiled, and the top schools are given a narrative that includes extensive and candid feedback from current students.
Arcadia's faculty and administration received high marks. One student wrote that "professors are excellent and a lot of them remember my name, even a year and a half after I took their class." Another said that classes are generally "small discussion groups" in which "participation is encouraged." According to the narrative, "most agree that the 'awesome,' 'down to earth, approachable' administration is more than willing to take a moment (or hour) to talk to students." In addition, the University's extensive study abroad programs received praise.
More information on the guide can be found at www.PrincetonReview.com.
