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Simmons College Named A "Best College" by U.S.News & World Report and Princeton Review; Kaplan Calls Simmons "Cutting-Edge School"

BOSTON (August 23, 2007) — Simmons College has been named a "Best College" in its category in the 2008 U.S.News & World Report rankings of "America's Best Colleges." Simmons also is named in the 2008 Princeton Review "Best 366 Colleges," an honor held by 15 percent of the four-year colleges in America, and is highlighted in the 2008 Kaplan college guidebook as one of "25 cutting-edge schools with an eye toward the future."

Simmons College President Susan Scrimshaw said, "Everyone in the Simmons College community is honored and delighted that we continue to be recognized by national college guidebooks as a leading institution of higher education."

U.S.News & World Report, often cited as the premier college-ranking publication, placed Simmons in the top tier of schools in its category of master's-level universities in the northern United States.

Being selected as a "Best College" by U.S.News & World Report is determined by factors such as a school's academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resource, and alumni support.

The Kaplan guidebook, You Are Here: A Guide to Over 380 Colleges and Universities and Unlimited Paths to Your Future, said  Simmons College is one of the 25 schools they chose to highlight in their review of more than 380 colleges nationwide, as a school that can "help kick-start your career and get you where you want to go….Simmons graduates are well-rounded at the end of their four years of study, and they leave campus ready for the world."

The Princeton Review editors said the schools in their guidebook were chosen primarily for their "outstanding academics." Inclusion was based on their survey of 120,000 students attending the colleges; campus visits; and opinions of independent college counselors, parents, and others.

In their summary of Simmons College, the Princeton Review editors noted the professors' high level of accessibility to students, the school's location in Boston's cultural neighborhood, its sense of community, and its scholarship program as some of the reasons to make Simmons "well worth considering."  It also noted that Simmons "bridges academic work and professional preparation."

The guidebook quoted Simmons students as saying:

"It may sound cheesy, but the school is really about helping students find their voice…Professors treat everyone with respect, dignity, and compassion...

"We feel teachers are actually on our side, ready to help with almost anything…The school places a high premium on making sure everyone feels comfortable…By the time we graduate, we're far more self-confident."

Simmons College is a private university located in the heart of Boston.  It includes an undergraduate college for women and graduate programs for women and men.  Founded more than a century ago, Simmons was the first woman's college in the nation to offer women liberal arts training and career preparation.