As we’ve seen through recent rankings shake ups over the last few years, some of the most prominent college ranking systems are deeply flawed and strategically manipulated to bolster institutional prestige and application volume. The Princeton Review’s Best Colleges for 2024 rankings offer a different approach: they’re based solely on student survey responses. While this methodology has its own limitations—and we urge students to do their own careful research to find best-fit schools—here’s a spotlight on some of the fun list toppers of 2024:
PRINCETON REVIEW’S TAKE ON COLLEGE RANKINGS
Happiest Students: Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX)
Other notable rankings: Emory (5), Univ. Richmond (10), Skidmore (11), Univ. San Diego (14)
With warm weather year-round, beach volleyball courts in campus quads, top-ranked residential dorms, and a robust commitment to Campus Recreation and Wellness Promotion, it’s not hard to see why TCU students are so content. In the nearby Fort Worth Stockyards, happy Horned Frogs take in twice daily cattle drives while noshing on BBQ and Tex Mex.
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Green Matters (Everyone Cares about Conservation): College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME)
Other notable rankings: Pitzer (3), Dickinson (4), Univ. Vermont (5), Colby (10)
At College of the Atlantic (COA), all 350 students major in human ecology, harnessing Acadia National Park as their real-world laboratory. Students design their own courses of study, whether by carrying out whale research on a tiny island in the Gulf of Maine, incubating a sustainable business enterprise through The Hatchery, or monitoring the mysterious Leach’s Storm Petrel population on Great Duck Island.
Most Beautiful Campus: University of Richmond (Richmond, VA)
Other notable rankings: Univ San Diego (2), Bryn Mawr (3), Washington Univ. in St. Louis (10), Rice (11)
URichmond boasts their campus beauty from the front page of their admissions website: “Architecture that gives off historical castle vibes. Secluded gardens, lush with plants that seem to flower year-round. A rippling lake in the middle of it all, bank lined with Adirondack chairs just for you.” But Richmond is more than just a pretty face: it ranks highly in several categories, including Best Classroom Experience (#3), Most Accessible Professors (#5), Best-Run Colleges (#3), and Best Private Schools for Internships (#3).
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Best Classroom Experience: Reed College (Portland, OR)
Other notable rankings: Univ Richmond (3), Wellesley College (4), Emory (8), Grinnell (10)
At Reed, papers never come back with grades—only extensive professor comments. This hallmark of the Reed pedagogy cultivates a sense of intellectual exchange rather than transaction in the Reed classroom, where professors treat students more like their colleagues. The classroom experience extends into the Reed canyon, a 28-acre watershed in the heart of campus which is integrated into everything from theater classes to natural resource economics at Reed.
College City Gets High Marks: Tulane University (New Orleans, LA)
Other notable rankings: Columbia (2), Northeastern (5), Univ Denver (7), Vanderbilt (8)
In a typical day at Tulane, students can go to class, stroll through the world famous Audubon Zoo, catch a Pelicans or Saints game, visit any number of niche museums, and end with a jazz session in the French Quarter followed by late-night beignets at Café du Monde—all within a distinctively European-style city. As much as New Orleans gives to Tulane students, the students give back to New Orleans, too, with a public service requirement embedded within the core curriculum.
ANOTHER SCHOOL TO WATCH
Harvey Mudd College, a STEM-focused liberal arts college within the five-college Claremont Consortium, just claimed the #1 spot on Washington Monthly’s 2023 Best Liberal Arts Colleges, a rankings system based on institutions’ contribution to the public good.
Anita holds a BA in Philosophy from Princeton, where she is an alumni class officer and former interviewer, and an MA in English from Middlebury. At Princeton she also contributed her drive and competitiveness to the women’s lacrosse team, winning an NCAA Division I National Championship and three Ivy League Championships while earning national scholar-athlete academic distinction and the Connie McAllister athletic department award for “effort, selfless dedication, enthusiasm and heart.” She brings these qualities to her relationships with students as she helps to bring out the best in them.
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