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Princeton Review Names OBU ‘Best in the West’ for 2017

August 31, 2016

For the 12th consecutive year, The Princeton Review named Oklahoma Baptist University one of the best colleges and universities in the western United States. OBU was one of 126 institutions listed in the “Best in the West” section on the educational research firm’s website feature, “2017 Best Colleges: Region by Region.”

Colleges selected each year must meet two criteria. First, they must pass reviews for academic excellence. Princeton Review makes those assessments based on data collected in administrator surveys and information from both staff and counselor advisors who are invited to participate in the survey. Second, 143,000 students at 381 colleges and universities are independently surveyed through a secure online survey. The survey asks students 84 questions about their school's academics, administration, student body and themselves. The ranking methodology uses a five-point scale to convert qualitative student assessments into quantitative data for school-to-school comparisons.

OBU is one of seven Oklahoma schools to make the list, among the 126 colleges honored in the 15-state region. The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in its list hierarchically. The “Best in the West” colleges are located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The Princeton Review also designated 228 colleges in the Northeast, 156 in the Midwest, and 139 in the Southeast for those regional lists.

The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school-bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The Princeton Review is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts.