Calvin College has been named in recent days to three college ranking guides (see write-ups below), including the just-released America's Best Colleges from U.S. News & World Report. Calvin also is in "The Best 351 Colleges" from the Princeton Review. And Calvin was featured in the 2004 "Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges." Calvin remains in the 2003 "Fiske Guide to Colleges," where it was named both a best school and one of just 43 best buys.
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
The annual U.S. News rankings for 2003-2004 see Calvin College tied for third in the category of Midwest Comprehensive Bachelor's Colleges. There are 109 schools in that group.
"Our category is filled with good schools," says Calvin vice president Tom McWhertor. "We're happy to be recognized as one of them."
St. Mary's, Ind., was number-one in the category, while Taylor, Ind., was second. Calvin and St. Norbert, Wis., tied for third.
Schools were rated in such categories as peer assessment, freshman retention rate, graduation rate, full-time faculty and more. Calvin scored the best of any school in its category in peer assessment, a rating that measures what presidents, provosts and deans of admissions at Calvin's competitors think of the school's academic programs.
McWhertor was pleased by that. "To again have our academic efforts recognized by our peers is heartening."
Calvin also scored high in its category in percentage of faculty who are full-time (91%), freshman retention rate (86%) and graduation rate (71%).
Calvin's category is made up of schools that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs - in the liberal arts, which account for fewer than half the bachelor's degrees, and in professional fields such as business, nursing, accounting, engineering, social work and education.
Interestingly the top four schools in Calvin's category all have strong religious ties. MIAA colleague St. Mary's is a Catholic women's college, Taylor is an interdenominational, evangelical college, Calvin is part of the Reformed tradition of historic Christianity and St. Norbert is a Catholic college in the Norbertine tradition.
U.S News & World Report has been ranking colleges since 1983 and its survey is widely considered to be one of the most thorough. The survey ranks colleges on academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Calvin has been a top-ranked school 16 of the last 18 years.
Other state schools also received kudos from U.S. News & World Report. The University of Michigan was 25th in the category of Best National Universities, while Michigan State University was tied for 73rd and Michigan Tech tied for 99th. In the category of Best Midwest Master's Universities the University of Detroit Mercy was tied for 31st. Local colleges Aquinas and Grand Valley State were named to that category's second tier (39th through 69th), while Cornerstone was named to the fourth tier (108th to 142nd). And in Best National Liberal Arts Colleges, Kalamazoo was tied for 66th, while Albion was tied for 85th, Hope was tied for 91st and Hillsdale was tied for 97th.
PRINCETON REVIEW
Calvin College is again considered one of the best colleges in the country by the Princeton Review and will be included in its 2004 edition of the "The Best 351 Colleges" (Random House / Princeton Review). 
Calvin joins Albion, Kalamazoo, Michigan State, Michigan Tech and Michigan as the only state schools included in the guide. 
"The Best 351 Colleges" has two-page profiles on each college with information on academics, student body, campus life, admission and financial aid. It also has a series of quirky rankings that annually garner national attention: everything from quality of life to town-gown relations to party schools and non-party schools. Calvin annually appears in several such categories and this year is no exception. Calvin appears in seven lists for 2004: 
#6 - Stone-Cold Sober Schools #6 - Scotch And Soda, Hold The Scotch #8 - Got Milk? #8 - Students Pray on a Regular Basis #10 - Don't Inhale #12 - Town-Gown Relations Are Good #14 - The Best Quality of Life 
The Princeton Review surveys students, asking 70 questions about their own school's academics, campus life and student body, as well as their study hours, politics, and opinions. The surveys are conducted on campuses on paper with the permission of college administrators, and electronically. The Princeton Review, a New York City-based company known for its test preparation courses, admission and education services, and books, has conducted the survey since 1992, when it first published its annual "Best Colleges" guide.
FISKE GUIDE TO COLLEGES
The 2003 Fiske Guide to Colleges does not achieve the same notoriety as Princeton's book, but is considered one of the most prestigious of the many guides available. Now in its 19th edition the Fiske guide is under the guidance of former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske.
The Fiske Guide profiles "300 of the best and most interesting institutions in the nation." Calvin was one of seven state schools in the 2003 guide, joining MIAA colleagues Albion, Alma, Hope and Kalamazoo as well as the Big Ten's Michigan and Michigan State. But Calvin was the only state school named a Best Buy, an honor that Fiske awards to schools that "offer remarkable educational opportunities at a relatively modest cost."
The Fiske Guide said that Calvin is considered one of the country's top evangelical colleges and that "Christian values are as much a feature of the Calvin College experience as academics." The Fiske Guide noted, however, that the overall academic environment at Calvin is challenging and that Calvin graduates "have few problems getting accepted to graduate schools of law, medicine, or business." Fiske, like the Princeton Review, rates Calvin very high for quality of life (giving it four stars).
KAPLAN GUIDE
The "Unofficial, Unbiased Insider's Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges" is published by Kaplan and it too praises Calvin's mix of academic excellence and Christian commitment. It also pays kudos to the Calvin faculty, saying "part of what makes the Calvin experience so rewarding for students is the dedication of the faculty to the students, and of the students to each other." The Kaplan guide includes state schools Albion, Hope, Kalamazoo, Michigan State and Michigan.