Webb Institute is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2018 edition of its college guide, “The Best 382 Colleges” (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review, $24.99, August 1, 2017).
Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two colleges outside the U.S. are profiled in the book, which is one of The Princeton Review’s most popular guides. Published annually since 1992, it has detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores in eight categories. The book also has ranking lists of top 20 schools in 62 categories. All of the ranking lists are based on The Princeton Review’s surveys of students attending the colleges.
“We chose Webb Institute for this book because it offers outstanding academics, “said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief and author of “The Best 382 Colleges”. “Our selections are primarily based on our surveys of administrators at several hundred four-year colleges. We also visit dozens of colleges each year and give considerable weight to opinions of our staff and our 24-member National College Counselor Advisory Board, most importantly, we look at valuable feedback we get from each school’s customers – our surveys of students attending them. We also keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character.”
President R. Keith Michel comments, “We are pleased that the Princeton Review has again acknowledged Webb’s commitment to excellence in education, by selecting Webb as one of its 382 Best Colleges.”
In its profile on Webb Institute, The Princeton Review praises it for its “100 job placement rate” and quotes extensively from Webb students the company surveyed for the book. Among their comments: “The curriculum is “intense,” but the academics tie in well with the winter work terms: “Work terms give each student a feel for industry sectors and allow them to make improved career decisions when selecting a first job.”
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges from 1 to 382 in any category. Instead it uses students’ ratings of their schools to compile 62 ranking lists of top 20 colleges in the book in various categories. The lists in this edition are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 137,000 students (358 per campus on average) attending the colleges. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from their assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their school’s career services. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list at http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/ranking-methodology.
Webb Institute is on the following ranking lists in “The Best 382 Colleges”: Best Career Services, Most Accessible Professors, and Students Study the Most.
The schools in “The Best 382 Colleges” also have rating scores in eight categories. The Princeton Review tallied them based on institutional data it collected during the 2016 -17 academic year and/or its student survey for the book. Rating scores are on a scale of 60 to 99. Categories include: Academics, Admissions Selectivity, Financial Aid, Fire Safety, and Green, a measure of school’s commitment to the sustainability and the environment in its policies, practices and education programs. Among the ratings in the Webb profile are scores of 98 for Academics and 94 for Quality of Life. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each rating score in the book and at http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/college-ratings.
In a “Survey Says” sidebar in the book’s profile on Webb Institute, The Princeton Review lists topics that Webb students surveyed for the book were in most agreement about in their answers to survey questions. The list includes: “students are happy,” “career services are great,” and “internships are widely available.”