ORONO — The Princeton Review again has named the University of Maine in its annual directory of the best undergraduate institutions in the United States and Canada.

For the seventh year in a row, UMaine is among “The Best 373 Colleges” listed in the annual guide, which went on sale today.

UMaine also is one of 18 colleges and universities listed on the review’s “2011 Green Rating Honor Roll,” along with the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and Unity College.

The review recognized UMaine’s commitment to sustainability, including recycling programs, green-certified buildings, free shuttle bus service, a sustainability coordinator, a sustainability council and “eco reps” in its residence halls.

Other schools on the green list include Arizona State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard College, Northeastern University, Yale University and University of California, Berkeley.
 
“We commend the University of Maine for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our selection of schools for the book,” says Robert Franek, the guide’s author.

Franek said the guide is based on institutional data collected about schools, visits to schools over the years and feedback from students attending the schools. The guide also incorporates the opinions of the review’s staff and its 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,” Franek said.

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are profiled in the book. It includes detailed descriptions of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories. It also ranks the top 20 schools in 62 categories based on surveys of students attending the colleges.

“This listing means a great deal to us, because it is based on feedback and commentary from our students,” said UMaine President Robert Kennedy. “Our students are telling The Princeton Review, year after year, that UMaine represents quality and value, and we appreciate this form of affirmation.”

UMaine also is one of 218 colleges and universities listed in the review’s “The Best Northeastern Colleges: 2011 Edition.”

The review doesn’t rank the colleges academically or from 1 to 373 in any category. The lists are based on a survey of 122,000 students (an average of 325 per campus) attending each school. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their financial aid and campus food.  Other ranking lists are based on student reports about their student body’s political leanings, race and class relations and gay community acceptance.
 

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