Bentley University 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 university in the just-published 2011 edition of its annual college guide, "The Best 373 Colleges" (Random House/Princeton Review). In the subcategories that feature rankings based on student surveys, Bentley ranked #6 for the Best Career Services, moving up from #12 last year. Bentley was also ranked #14 for the Best College Library and #18 for Dorms Like Palaces. In addition, Bentley was also named to the Fire Safety Honor Roll.
Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are chosen, based on outstanding academics, to be profiled in the book. The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book overall, nor do the rankings reflect The Princeton Review's opinion of the schools. The guidebook features detailed profiles of each school with rating scores in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in 62 categories. The rankings lists are based on The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 students attending the 373 schools featured. The lists and methodology are also posted on www.PrincetonReview.com.
In its profile on Bentley University, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from Bentley students surveyed for the guide:
Students are pleased with Bentley's abilities to create a “career-bound student while instilling the importance of liberal studies,” and to “prepare you and help you earn a job with all the technical and educational background you need.”
Students also “love that most of the professors have worked outside of academia and can bring…real-world experience and examples to the classroom.”
The administration also receives high marks: It is “truly concerned with students' wants,” “engaging and open to new ideas,” and “very communicative.”
“This university really strikes a great balance of fun and work.” While students are happy to have a city like Boston nearby, with its “bars, historical sites, theatres, restaurants, clubs, etc.,” there is plenty of activity on campus, too, and “entertainment is limitless.”
"We commend Bentley University for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our choice of schools for the book,” says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's V.P., Publishing and author of "The Best 373 Colleges”. “Our choices are based on institutional data we collect about schools, our visits to schools over the years, feedback we gather from students attending the schools, and the opinions of our staff and our 28-member National College Counselor Advisory Board. We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."
Bentley is also profiled in The Princeton Review book, Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement, selected based on its record of excellent service-learning programs and blending academics with community work.