College Rankings

The Princeton Review annually ranks colleges across the country in several categories. Each of their rankings will give you an unbiased and uncensored view of each school profiled. They can guarantee that their candid profiles will seldom be found in any admissions office glossy view book. The important thing to remember is that each ranking is based on what the real experts, current college students, tell the Princeton Review about their schools. What could be more useful to students choosing a college than the opinions of current students?

Their list of the top party schools recently garnered a lot of press coverage. And, while none of the Brethren affiliated colleges made that particular list, one of them made it to the top 20 of a couple of their other lists. Juniata College ranks 8th on the "homogeneous student population" list and 14th on the "alternative lifestyles not an alternative" list.

As a service to our readers, the GM staff have gleaned the Princeton Review statistics for the Brethren schools and done some ranking of our own.

Most Comfortable Brethren College: Elizabethtown College (% Living on Campus: 85)
Least Comfortable: University of LaVerne (% Living on Campus: 35)

Smartest Brethren Faculty: Juniata College (% of Faculty with PhDs: 81)
Dimmest Brethren Faculty: University of LaVerne (% of Faculty with PhDs: 49)

Most Organized Brethren College: Juniata College (Registered Organizations: 97)
Least Organized: Manchester College (Registered Organizations: 38)
Note: McPherson College numbers for this statistic were not available.

Most Affordable Brethren College: McPherson College (Annual Tuition: $12,500)
Most Expensive: Juniata College (Annual Tuition: $21,160)

Brethren College with the Lightest Reading: Juniata College (Average Annual Book Expenses: $450)
Heaviest Reading: University of LaVerne (Average Annual Book Expenses: $846)

Best Brethren College to Find a Woman: Elizabethtown College (% Mail/Female: 38/62)
Best Brethren College to Find a Man: McPherson College (% Male/Female: 49/51)

Brethren College with the Happiest Freshman: Juniata College (% Freshman Returning for Soph Year: 90)
Least Pleased Freshman: McPherson College (% Freshman Returning for Soph Year: 45)

Most Generous Diploma Mill: Juniata College (% Freshman Graduating in 4 Years: 69)
Stingiest with the Sheep Skins: McPherson College (% Freshman Graduating in 4 Years: 30)

Easiest Brethren College to Get Into: Bridgewater College (Accepted as % of Applied: 87)
Hardest Brethren College to Get Into: Elizabethtown College and McPherson College (Accepted as % of Applied: 69)

Brightest Brethren College Students: Juniata College (% Freshman in Top 10% of HS Class: 39%)
Dimmest Bulbs: McPherson College (% Freshman in Top 10% of HS Class: 7%)

And, for the record, only one of the six schools we looked at does not list any religious affiliation with the Church of the Brethren.