Mercer University is featured among the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review’s new 2019 edition of its college guide, “The Best 384 Colleges,” which was released today.
 
Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the book, published annually since 1992. The guide contains detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores in eight categories, as well as ranking lists of the top 20 schools in 62 categories. All of the ranking lists are based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 138,000 students attending the colleges.
 
“We picked the 384 ‘best’ colleges for our book primarily for their outstanding academics; we highly recommend each one,” said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. “However, we know applicants need far more than an academic rating or ranking to find the college that will be best for them. We created our 62 ranking lists to help narrow that search. They are based entirely on data we gather beyond academics that gives insight into what the schools’ enrolled students say about their professors, administrators, school services, campus culture and student life. In the end, it’s all about the fit.”
 
In its profile on Mercer, The Princeton Review praises the University as a school that provides “boundless opportunities for its undergraduates.” Student surveys indicate that Mercer’s “small size and focus on research and leadership enables students to quickly get involved in both academic pursuits with professors, as well as leadership positions in the extracurricular of their choice” and that the University “aims to produce graduates who will endeavor to ‘make positive changes in their local community and the world.’” Faculty are lauded for being “genuinely invested in their students,” and the campus community is described as a place where “everybody here is so accepting of people’s differences and so open-minded.”
 
In a “Survey Says” sidebar in the book’s profile, The Princeton Review takes note of Mercer’s “great” financial aid packages, as well as student interest in community service, intercollegiate athletics and intramural sports.