College Choice Releases First Annual Ranking of Regional Universities in the Northern United States

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent college search and rankings website College Choice (http://www.collegechoice.net) has published its first annual ranking of regional universities in the Northern United States. These are Northern universities which offer a full range of undergraduate programs and some master's programs, but relatively few doctoral programs. The ranking can be viewed at http://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/regional-universities-north/.

The College Choice rankings of regional universities are based exclusively on factors actual college students said were most important to their college decision. According to the most recent annual CIRP Freshmen Survey by the Higher Education Research Institute, these factors include academic reputation, financial aid offerings, overall cost, and success of graduates in the post-college job market.

"As with our rankings of national liberal arts college and national research universities, when ranking regional universities it made sense to us to consider which factors the largest survey of actual college freshmen said was most important to them when they chose their school," said Jeremy Alder, Managing Editor of College Choice. "Every college ranking involves decisions about what elements of a college to consider. You can't measure or include everything, so why not go with what real students said they valued most in making their own college decision?"

Villanova University, located just north of Philadelphia, PA, is at the top of the list. Bentley University in Waltham, MA and Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore came in second and third, respectively.

Other universities making the list include (alphabetically ordered):

Alfred University, Alfred, NY

Assumption College, Worcester, MA

Bryant University, Smithfield, RI

Canisius College, Buffalo, NY

College of New Jersey, Ewing Township, NJ

CUNY- Baruch College, New York, NY

CUNY- Brooklyn College, New York, NY

CUNY- City College, New York, NY

CUNY- Hunter College, New York, NY

CUNY- Queens College, New York, NY

Emerson College, Boston, MA

Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT

Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ

Gannon University, Erie, PA

Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA

Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA

Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY

Manhattan College, New York, NY

Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY

Marywood University, Scranton, PA

Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA

Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY

Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ

Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY

Niagara University, Lewiston, NY

Norwich University, Northfield, VT

Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, MD

Providence College, Providence, RI

Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT

Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, NJ

Rider University, Lawrence Township, NJ

Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey- Camden, Camden, NJ

Simmons College, Boston, MA

St. Francis University, Loretto, PA

St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA

St. Peter's University, Jersey City, NJ

SUNY- Geneseo, Geneseo, NY

SUNY- New Paltz, New Paltz, NY

Towson University, Towson, MD

University of Scranton, Scranton, PA

Wagner College, Staten Island, NY

Western New England University, Springfield, MA

Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA

The ranking takes into account academic reputation, average amount of scholarship and grant aid per student, overall net cost, and the average starting salary for graduates. Each factor was weighted equally. Data was derived from several publicly available sources, including the National Center for Education Statistics, Payscale.com, and U.S. News & World Report.

College Choice is an independent online publication dedicated to helping students and their families find the right college. The site publishes rankings and reviews that make finding the best colleges for different interests easier and more fun, as well as resources to help students get into, pay for, and thrive at the college of their choice.

Contact:

Jeremy Alder
Managing Editor
http://collegechoice.net
(919) 745-8594
Email

SOURCE College Choice