Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has once again been named one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review, which features WPI in its new 2013 edition of “The Best 377 Colleges.”
Only about 15 percent of America's 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories.
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book academically or from 1 to 377 in any category. Instead it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of "top 20" colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 students (about 324 per campus on average) attending the colleges in the book and not on The Princeton Review's opinion of the schools.
"We’re very pleased that The Princeton Review continues to recognize the value of WPI's distinctive academic programs," said Kristin R. Tichenor, senior vice president of Enrollment and Institutional Strategy at WPI. "The review underscores WPI's commitment to a high quality education for our students."
Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's senior vice president/publisher and author of "The Best 377 Colleges," praised the university as well. "We commend Worcester Polytechnic Institute for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our selection of schools for the book," he said.
WPI students lauded the school's project-based curriculum and said the university's quarterly academic calendar "allows students to take a more diverse array of classes." Additionally, students pointed out that WPI has "a very nice mix of students," which "stands us apart from other engineering schools."
Tichenor said there are a host of benefits to WPI's project-based curriculum, which allows students to work with more than 200 companies, government agencies, and private organizations each year.
"Projects at WPI come as close to professional experience as a college program can possibly achieve," said Tichenor. "Through these experiences, students are able to develop invaluable work and life skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives."
