Siena College is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2015 edition of its annual college guide, "The Best 379 Colleges."
Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and only four colleges outside the U.S. are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on The Princeton Review's surveys of 130,000 students attending the colleges.
The Princeton Review's profile on Siena College quotes extensively from Siena students, including:
The Franciscan tradition “is all about community,” and, at Siena College, a small school with “a strong Franciscan atmosphere,” students benefit from a friendly community in which “there is always someone to lend a helping hand.” That someone may be a professor, a tutor, or, on occasion, a friar driving through campus in his golf cart. “My school is probably has the best sense of community and tradition in America” one finance major raves.
Biology and other premedical disciplines are highly regarded, and students especially love the Siena College– Albany Medical College Program, a joint acceptance program that focuses on humanities and community service. In addition, the school’s many business undergrads feel their program, which is enhanced by a loyal alumni base that helps newly minted grads quickly find jobs, is the school’s “greatest strength.” Students also sing the praises on the social work program with the availability of “internships in downtown Albany.”
Regardless of discipline, Siena professors are “incredibly approachable and want you to succeed; but they are challenging, want you to learn, not skirt by.”
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges academically or from 1 to 379 in any category. Instead it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of top 20 colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review's survey of 130,000 students (about 343 per campus on average) attending the colleges. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their school's library, career services, and student body's political leanings.
