Marist College Jumps In Kiplinger's Best University List

Marist College vaulted over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York University, Boston University, George Washington University, the University of Scranton, Case Western Reserve University, Marquette University, Syracuse University, and Xavier University (Ohio). Marist entered the list last year at number 50.

Kiplinger's selected 50 best values among private universities and another 50 among liberal arts colleges across the country. Marist was named to the first list because it offers a comprehensive education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Criteria included the quality of the institutions' "strong academics," the availability of a wide variety of financial aid offered to admitted students, and "a decent price to begin with." Academic quality accounts for two-thirds of the ranking and affordability the remaining third.

Marist was the only New York college to make the list. Four universities in the Empire State -- Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and Syracuse -- and one technical institute, RPI, were also named. Among others making the cut with Marist were Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Rice, UCLA, Yale, the California Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"We're honored to be included in such company," said Kent Rinehart, dean of admission at Marist. "Our applications are up 25 percent over the past two years, which can be attributed to the College's enhanced reputation, increased popularity, and our students, who go back home and tell their friends how much they enjoy Marist."

This year, Marist received nearly 9,200 applications for the 950 seats available in the Class of 2012. Marist accepted only 37 percent of its applicants this year, compared with 42 percent in 2007, making this the most selective class in the College's history. The average SAT scores of accepted students were up 16 points over last year, and about half of the students were from outside New York State. Accepted students come from 35 states as well as Hong Kong, Poland, Singapore, and other countries around the globe.

In addition to the listing by Kiplinger's, another financial publication, Barron's, has named Marist one of the 247 "best buys in college education." Marist was also named one of "the 366 best colleges" in America by The Princeton Review, which also named Marist's School of Management one of "the top 290 business schools" in the U.S. and Canada.

Marist College will sponsor an open house for accepted students April 12 and 13 on the College's Poughkeepsie campus. More than 1,000 prospective Marist students and their families (more than 3,000 total visitors) will visit the Marist campus and tour the Hudson River Valley that weekend.

Source: By Maris College