Ithaca College has once again been named one of the nation’s top institutions for undergraduate education, with inclusion in the Princeton Review’s annual guide to “The Best 385 Colleges.” The publication gives the college particularly high rankings in three areas directly associated with degree programs, listing it as #2 for best college theatre, #4 for best college newspaper, and #7 for best college radio station.
The just-released 2020 edition of the guide features only about 13 percent of America’s 3,000 four-year colleges and universities. Institutions are chosen for inclusion based on data Princeton Review annually collects on the institutions and from its surveys of college students who rate and report on various aspects of their campus and community experiences.
In its profile of Ithaca College, the guide notes that while small class sizes mean students get plenty of personal attention, IC also has many of the resources you would expect to find only at a much larger university. Professors are praised for being engaging and for understanding how to present the material so it is relevant and meaningful.
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book from 1 to 385. Instead, it provides rating scores in eight categories and ranking lists in 62 categories it considers important to prospective applicants and their parents. The rankings in this edition are based on surveys of 140,000 students at the 385 schools in the book.
Ithaca College offers five academic majors in the Department of Theatre Arts, which is based in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Undergraduate students annually present a half dozen main-stage productions — ranging from classic and contemporary drama to opera to dance — through the professionally modeled Ithaca College Theatre, while a number of student-run groups produce work around campus and in the community.
Based in the Roy H. Park School of Communications, The Ithacan is the college’s student newspaper. Published in print and online, the paper has been a consistent winner of national awards from such organizations as the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Associated Collegiate Press.
Also based in the Park School are the college’s two student-operated radio stations — 92 WICB and VIC Radio. Both provide award-winning music, public affairs and sports programming to the local community as well as worldwide via the Internet.
The Princeton Review is an education services company known for its test-prep courses, tutoring, guidebooks, and other student resources. The school profiles and ranking lists can be found at www.princetonreview.com/best385, where they can be searched for free with site registration.