News from Illinois Wesleyan

July 11, 2002
Contact: Jeff Hanna, 309/556-3181

Illinois Wesleyan Featured in New Guide Book

Illinois Wesleyan has been recognized in Kaplan Publishing’s new college guide book, The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider’s Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges. In addition to a two-page profile about the University, the book includes Illinois Wesleyan on two lists that are based on survey’s of high school guidance counselors — "Hidden Treasures" and "Best Freshman Housing."

According to the guide, "Illinois Wesleyan’s academic reputation has soared in the past decade; new state-of-the-art facilities and excellence of programs have made it one of the top universities in the midwest….At about 2,000 undergrads, students say the school is just the right size, offering many academic options as well as the opportunity to forge close ties with professors and fellow students. The school prides itself on extended faculty office hours, and students share anecdotes of professors working late into the night to help with coursework. The student/faculty ratio is 12:1. The school is consistently rated as a 'best value' for the quality of its education for price…"

One of the guide’s features is a poll of high school guidance counselors on various topics. In the case of the "Hidden Treasure" category, the guidance counselors were naming "small schools that deserve more national recognition," and Illinois Wesleyan was listed along with Carleton College of Minnesota, DePauw University of Indiana, Franklin and Marshall College of Pennsylvania, and Occidental College of California. In the "Best Freshman Housing" category, Illinois Wesleyan was listed among 27 institutions, ranging from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to Stanford University.

Written by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili, the guide selects those 320 colleges from throughout the country that the authors deem "most interesting" based on information that they collected from high school guidance counselors and students.