Northwestern College named among "Best in Midwest" by Princeton Review

Northwestern College has again been named among the best colleges in the Midwest by the Princeton Review, a nationally known education services company. Northwestern is one of 156 institutions recommended in the Review’s 2017 “Best in the Midwest” section on its website, based on institutional data and the opinions of current students.

Students quoted in the college’s profile at www.princetonreview.com/bestMWcolleges spoke highly of Northwestern’s commitment to integrate faith and learning. One student wrote, “The professors really make us think outside the box and want us to relate what we are learning in the classroom with our faith.” Another said students are “looking for ways to incorporate their faith into everyday living.” A third described the college as being devoted to “providing a safe space to dialogue and grow in knowledge along with people who have different perspectives.”

Northwestern’s faculty members were also commended for their efforts to help students. “I was surprised to see how willing my professors were to work with me if I didn’t understand something or to go over something again in class when questions were asked,” said one. “Professors really care about us as individuals and about our learning,” commented another.

Students cited in the profile described their peers as “very friendly” and the campus as “a tightly knit community.” One wrote, “If you walk into the cafeteria alone, you will not end up sitting alone.” Another said, “There is almost always something to be involved in or an activity to do around campus.” The website also includes positive student comments about Northwestern’s commitment to diversity and small class sizes.

The profiles of all schools featured on the Princeton Review’s Best Regional Colleges website include scores on a scale of 60 to 99 in several categories based on data provided by the colleges and student surveys. Among the 15 Iowa colleges listed as the “Best in the Midwest,” only one rated higher in quality of life than Northwestern’s score of 94 and only one rated higher in financial aid than Northwestern’s score of 89. Only two Iowa schools had better ratings than Northwestern’s regarding the quality of teaching and professors’ accessibility outside the classroom.

The Princeton Review’s 156 “Best in the Midwest” colleges are located in 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The 649 colleges listed from across the nation represent only 25 percent of the country’s four-year institutions.