Saint Mary's College is one of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest according to The Princeton Review. The College has held the “Best in the Midwest” designation every year since The Princeton Review began the “Best Colleges: Region by Region” categorizations nine years ago. The latest results were posted online on August 1.

“We are very pleased to once again be included among The Princeton Review’s ‘Best in the Midwest,’” said Saint Mary's College President Carol Ann Mooney. “Our commitment to an excellent intellectual and academic experience for our students is unwavering. Our graduates are our best recruiters. Their accomplishments speak volumes about the quality of the educational experience they received here.”

The Princeton Review is an education services company known for its test preparation programs and college and graduate school guides. Saint Mary’s is one of 153 institutions listed in the Midwest section, which represents twelve states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Additionally, The Princeton Review designated 220 colleges in the Northeast, 121 in the West, and 135 in the Southeast as best in their locales. The 629 colleges named among the “regional best” represent about 25 percent of the country’s 2,500 four-year colleges.

“We’re pleased to recommend Saint Mary's College to users of our site as one of the best schools to earn their undergraduate degree,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's senior vice president of publishing. “We chose these as our ‘regional best’ colleges mainly for their excellent academic programs. From several hundred schools in each region, we winnowed our list based on institutional data we collected directly from the schools, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of our staff, plus college counselors and advisors whose recommendations we invite. We also take into account what students at the schools reported to us. Only schools that permit us to independently survey their students are eligible to be considered for our ‘regional best’ lists.”

Kristin McAndrew, director of admission, said a visit to Saint Mary's immediately reveals why the College has been chosen for the list each year. "Many high school students look to the Princeton Review as they build their lists of schools to visit," she says. "We look forward to welcoming them to campus and showing them why we are consistently ranked one of the 'Best in the Midwest.'"