Broncs react to Rider’s Princeton Review rankings
By Sarah Griffin
The Princeton Review’s “The Best 387 Colleges” book for 2022 ranks Rider University among the best undergraduate colleges in the United States.
Rider University was rated on several factors, including academics, admissions, financial aid, fire safety, quality of life, environmental responsibility and professor engagement and the level of availability of faculty to help students outside of the classroom, according to The Princeton Review’s website.
The Princeton Review indicates that academics scores are based on the number of hours students spend in the classroom, how many resources are available and the quality of students. The admissions score is gathered through SAT scores and grades of the applicants to the college being studied. Financial aid scores come from how much money a school can put up to help prospective students afford an education at their institution. Fire safety is based on how easy it would be to exit safely out of a dorm on campus in the event of a fire. The quality of life is scored by how happy the students are. Finally, environmental responsibility is scored on several factors including the prevalence of recycling at the school, the school’s water quality and the number of environmental preservation majors or minors the school offers.
The universities and colleges ranked on “The Best 387 Colleges” are given a score between 60 to 99 in each of the categories.
Rider received the following scores: 78/99 in academics, 83/99 in admissions, 83/99 in financial aid office, 85/99 in dorm safety, 83/99 on a positive outlook on life, 92/99 on environmental responsibility, 84/99 on engagement and 90/99 for availability for students outside of school hours.
Freshman psychology major Marina Jean-Baptiste said, “Rider isn’t perfect but it is an amazing school. I wouldn’t change any of the Princeton Review scorings.”
Melody Turner, a sophomore marine science major, also agreed with The Princeton Review’s high ratings of Rider, particularly its safety rating.
Turner said, “Rider is safe because campus security is everywhere and always making sure students and faculty are safe. We are informed on campus incidents also.”
However, Turner wished more resources were available to students.
Turner said, “Students should feel comfortable [asking] for help and [should spend] more time studying”.
In addition to the university’s overall ranking, Rider was also recognized as a best northeastern college. Only about 14% of America’s 2,700 four-year colleges are profiled in The Princeton Review.
“A Rider education is a transformative experience,” said Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs DonnaJean Fredeen in a university news release. “Throughout their time at Rider, our students accomplish things they may have not previously thought possible because of Rider’s highly supportive learning environment. They learn to follow their interests and become leaders in their field.”
