9/15/2004

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

SRU TOPS IN MID-ATLANTIC REGION, TOPS IN NATION

IN PRINCETON REVIEW, COSMOGIRL! EVALUATIONS

              SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –SRU’s strengths, including academics and friendly campus atmosphere, earned it top ratings in national publications this week as The Princeton Review’s issued its list of 115 top Mid-Atlantic Colleges and CosmoGIRL! magazine‘s special, 12-page insert detailing “The Best Colleges for CosmoGIRLs” included the University in its first-ever report on the top 50 female-friendly campuses in the nation.

           The CosmoGIRL! survey includes SRU in company with such prestigious higher education institutions as Amherst, Babson, Bard, Brown, Earlham, Grinnell, Kenyon, Middlebury, Oberlin and Pamona colleges as well as the universities of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maine, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Duke, Brown, Trinity, Berkeley and Stanford universities.

SRU Listed for Second Straight Year

           For the second consecutive year The Princeton Review included SRU in its 2005 rankings based on interviews with students about academics, the student body and campus life. 

           “Our students did it for us again,” President Robert Smith said. “These regional rankings are considered especially important because of the influence current students have on the rankings.”  Princeton Review Publisher and Editorial Director Robert Franek told Smith by letter that Princeton Review evaluated 708 schools in the mid-Atlantic, including 102 schools surveyed for the first time. SRU is one of 115 schools to receive the regional distinction.

           Students noted SRU’s “reputation for many majors is extremely well known.” They described the administration as very helpful and professors as accessible. “My professors all know me by name, are very approachable and help in any way they can so that you will succeed,” one student wrote as a response to Princeton Review’s survey.

           According to its Web site, Princeton Review publishes its best-of rankings to identify colleges and universities that stand out and to raise public awareness of them. Published by Random House Princeton Review Books, the mid-Atlantic college report is part of a five-book, regional series. Others volumes review colleges in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and West. The rankings are based on factual information and student interviews.

2,700 Schools Considered

           “Not only is this the first college guide designed specifically for girls, but what really makes it unique is that we’ve identified special factors that give girls an edge,” said Susan Schultz, editor-in-chief of CosmoGIRL! “This is no arbitrary list,” she adds.

           The October-issue CosmoGIRL! supplement, compiled by Allison Fass, considered nearly 2,700 four-year colleges in the U.S. looking at college environments that give women the best chance of success in school and after graduation. The article pointed out to college-bound women that key factors for success can include small class size, prominent female faculty members, strong women’s sports programs, a career center that facilitates internship opportunities, lots of chances to hold leadership positions in clubs and activities, and an active alumni network.

           “We certainly fit very well into the factors CosmoGIRL! considered,” says Ross Feltz, director of University Public Relations. “The magazine, clearly aimed at high school-age girls, focuses on fashion trends, dating, relationships and makeup, but there is also a serious side that passes solid information along to young women -- and in this case, young women considering where to attend college.”

           The supplement did not include traditional all-women’s colleges noting selections were made to “recognize the coed colleges that have adopted the enrichment strategies that the single-sex schools have always had.”

           In addition to listing enrollment, class size, student-to-faculty ratio and tuition, the SRU entry includes mention of the SRU Women’s Leadership Speaker Series that premiered last year offering female role models in business and government.

Pn. PGN, WPN, PR