29 PA Colleges Make Princeton Review's 'Best' Rankings For 2019

Twenty-nine Pennsylvania schools are included in The Princeton Review's most recent analysis of the country's best 384 colleges for 2019. Many of the schools that made the best overall list also appear on various “Best Of” and “Worst Of” lists released in tandem by The Princeton Review.

Although the tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company did not rank the top 384 colleges — the list is in alphabetical order — it did rank them for its 62 category lists. Topics covered in those lists include best college theater, best science lab facilities, best party schools, most beautiful campus and even silly things like “nobody plays intramural sports.”

Robert Franek, editor in chief at The Princeton Review and the book's lead author, said in a news release that the 384 “best” colleges were primarily based on their “outstanding academics” and that the authors “highly recommend each one.”

The Princeton Review said it surveyed 138,000 students who attend the schools and asked them to rate the institutions on dozens of topics.

Here’s a breakdown of the best colleges in Pennsylvania as well as their rankings in the various categories:

Muhlenberg College, Allentown

• Ranked 9th in Best College Theater

Lehigh University, Bethlehem

• Ranked 1st in Best Science Lab Facilities
• Ranked 1st in Lots of Beer
• Ranked 5th in Town-Gown Relations are Strained
• Ranked 6th in Party Schools
• Ranked 14th in Lots of Greek Life
• Ranked 15th in College City Gets Low Marks
• Ranked 16th in Little Race/Class Interaction

Moravian College, Bethlehem

• Not ranked on any individual lists

Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr

• Ranked 1st in Most Liberal Students
• Ranked 2nd in LGBTQ-Friendly
• Ranked 2nd in Most Beautiful Campus
• Ranked 3rd in Most Active Student Government
• Ranked 4th in Best College Dorms
• Ranked 10th in Best Campus Food
• Ranked 10th in Nobody Plays Intramural Sports
• Ranked 17th in Professors Get High Marks
• Ranked 19th in Best Quality of Life

Dickinson College, Carlisle

• Ranked 5th in Most Popular Study Abroad Program
• Ranked 19th in Most Politically Active Students

Ursinus College, Collegeville

• Ranked 17th in Lots of Hard Liquor

Lafayette College, Easton

• Ranked 16th in Great Financial Aid

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg

• Ranked 9th in Most Popular Study Abroad Program
• Ranked 12th in Best Athletic Facilities
• Ranked 13th in Best Campus Food
• Ranked 15ht in Best Classroom Experience
• Ranked 17th in Best Science Lab Facilities
• Ranked 17th in Little Race/Class Interaction
• Ranked 18th in Lots of Beer
• Ranked 19th in Lots of Greek Life

Grove City College, Grove City

• Ranked 1st in Most Conservative Students
• Ranked 2nd in Future Rotarians and DAR
• Ranked 5th in Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
• Ranked 5th in LGBTQ-Unfriendly
• Ranked 6th in Got Milk?
• Ranked 7th in Most Religious Students
• Ranked 8th in Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch
• Ranked 8th in Stone-Cold Sober Schools
• Ranked 11th in Don't Inhale

Haverford College, Haverford

• Ranked 19th in Students Study the most

Juniata College, Huntingdon

• Ranked 2nd in Lots of Hard Liquor
• Ranked 9th in Is This a Library

Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana

• Ranked 1st in Students Study the Least
• Ranked 14th in Town-Gown Relations are Strained

Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster

• Ranked 4th in Little Race/Class Interaction
• Ranked 19th in Best College Radio Station

Bucknell University, Lewisburg

• Ranked 1st in Most Beautiful Campus
• Ranked 3rd in Lots of Greek Life
• Ranked 5th in Party Schools
• Ranked 6th in Best Classroom Experience
• Ranked 7th in Lots of Beer
• Ranked 7th in Most Active Student Government
• Ranked 8th in Best Athletic Facilities
• Ranked 8th in Little Race/Class Interaction
• Ranked 13th in Lots of Hard Liquor
• Ranked 13th in Best Science Lab Facilities

Allegheny College, Meadville

• Ranked 7th in College City Gets Low Marks

Drexel University, Philadelphia

• Ranked 2nd in Nobody Plays Intramural Sports
• Ranked 16th in Least Happy Students

Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia

• Ranked 11th in Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
• Ranked 17th in Is It Food?
• Ranked 18th in Future Rotarians and DART

Temple University, Philadelphia

• Ranked 5th in Most Active Student Government
• Ranked 9th in Best College Radio Station
• Ranked 18th in Least Beautiful Campus
• Ranked 19th in Town-Gown Relations are Strained

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

• Not ranked on any individual lists

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

• Ranked 4th in Best College Theater
• Ranked 17th in There’s a Game?

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh

• Ranked 4th in Financial Aid Not So Great
• Ranked 17th in College City Gets High Marks
• Ranked 17th in Election? What Election?
• Ranked 17th in Is That a Dorm?

University of Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh Campus

• Ranked 7th in Financial Aid Not So Great
• Ranked 7th in Professors Get Low Marks
• Ranked 16th in College City Gets High Marks
• Ranked 18th in Election? What Election?

University of Scranton, Scranton

• Ranked 15th in Best Campus Food
• Ranked 16th in Best Science Lab Facilities

Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove

• Ranked 16th in Most Popular Study Abroad Program

Swarthmore College, Swarthmore

• Not ranked on any individual lists

Penn State University Park, University Park

• Ranked 9th in Best College Library
• Ranked 10th in Best Career Services
• Ranked 12th in Best College Newspaper
• Ranked 15th in Financial Aid Not So Great
• Ranked 16th in Best Athletic Facilities
• Ranked 18th in Students Pack the Stadiums

Villanova University, Villanova

• Not ranked on any individual lists
  

Washington & Jefferson College, Washington

• Ranked 7th in Is That a Dorm?
• Ranked 11th in College City Gets Low Marks
• Ranked 16th in Town-Gown Relations are Strained

Lycoming College, Williamsport

• Ranked 19th in Future Rotarians and DAR

Franek, the editor in chief, noted stellar academics aren’t the only things students — and parents — look for in a college.

“We created our 62 ranking lists to help narrow that search,” he said. “They are based entirely on data we gather beyond academics that give insight into what the schools' enrolled students say about their professors, administrators, school services, campus culture, and student life. In the end, it's all about the fit.”

Among the key findings: Bentley University had the most highly-rated career center and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee topped the "Great Financial Aid" list. Reed College in Oregon — where most class sections contain just two to nine students — ranked No. 1on the list, "Professors Get High Marks," based on how students rated their faculty specifically in their roles as teachers.

Here are the top performers in some of the other categories:

• "Most Accessible Professors" — United States Military Academy (New York)
• "Best College Dorms"— Washington University in St. Louis
• "Best Campus Food" — University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• "Best Health Services" — University of Wisconsin-Madison
• "Best Athletic Facilities" — The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa
• "Happiest Students" — College of William & Mary (Virginia)
• "Most Politically Active Students" — American University (Washington D.C.)
• "LGBTQ-Friendly" — Emerson College (Massachussetts)
• "Party Schools" — University of Delaware
• Stone-Cold Sober Schools" — Brigham Young University (Utah)
• "Students Pack the Stadiums" — Syracuse University (New York)
• "College City Gets High Marks" — Tulane University (Louisiana)
• "Their Students Love These Colleges" — Clemson University (South Carolina)

The 84-question survey asks students about their school's academics, administration, student body and themselves. You can read more about the ranking methodology here.

Patch national reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this article.

Photo credit: Shutterstock / baipooh