Fiske Guide to Colleges 2024 by Edward Fiske

Introduction

FISKE GUIDE TO COLLEGES—AND HOW TO USE IT
The 2024 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges is a revised and updated version of a book that has been a bestseller
since it first appeared four decades ago and is universally regarded as the definitive college guide of its type.
Features of the new edition include:
• Updated write-ups on more than 320 of the country’s best and most interesting colleges and universities
• An index that categorizes the colleges according to how much debt, on average, students accumulate
during their time at school
• A list of schools that no longer require the SAT or ACT of all applicants
• A “Sizing-Yourself-Up” questionnaire that will help you figure out what kind of school is best for you
• “A Guide for Preprofessionals,” which lists colleges and universities strong in nine preprofessional areas
• A list of schools with strong programs for students with learning disabilities
• Designation of the 20 schools that constitute this year’s Best Buys
• Statistical summaries that give you the numbers you need, but spare you those that you do not
• Authoritative ratings of each institution by academics, social life, and quality of life
• The unique “If You Apply To” feature, which summarizes vital information about each college’s
admission policies
• A section on top Canadian, British, and Irish universities that offer first-rate academics and are easily the
equivalent of the flagship public institutions and elite privates in the U.S.—but much less expensive
Picking the right college—one that will coincide with your particular needs, goals, interests, talents, and
personality—is one of the most important decisions any young person will ever make. It is also a major
investment. Tuition and fees alone now run at least $10,000 per year at a typical public university and $38,000
per year at a typical private college, and the overall tab at the most selective and expensive schools tops $80,000
per year. Obviously, a major investment like that should be approached with as much information as possible.
That’s where the Fiske Guide to Colleges fits in. It is a tool to help you make the most intelligent educational
investment you can.
WHAT IS THE FISKE GUIDE TO COLLEGES?
Fiske Guide to Colleges mirrors a process familiar to any college-bound student and his or her family. If you are
wondering whether to consider a particular college, it is logical to seek out friends or acquaintances who go there
and ask them to tell you about their experiences. We have done exactly that—but on a far broader and more
systematic basis than any individual or family could do alone.

In using the Fiske Guide, you should keep some special features in mind:
• The guide is selective. We have not tried to cover all four-year colleges and universities. Rather, we have
chosen more than 320 of the “best and most interesting” of the country’s 2,300 institutions—ones that
students most want to know about—and written descriptive essays of 1,000 to 2,500 words about each
of them.
• Since choosing a college is a matter of making a calculated and informed judgment, this guide is also
subjective. It makes judgments about the strengths and weaknesses of each institution, and it contains a
unique set of ratings of each college or university on the basis of academic strength, social life, and overall
quality of life. No institution is a good fit for every student. The underlying assumption of the Fiske Guide
is that each of the colleges chosen for inclusion is the right place for some students but not a good bet
for others. Like finding the right spouse, college admissions is a matching process. You know your own
interests and needs; the Fiske Guide will tell you something about those needs that each college seems to
serve best.
• Finally, the Fiske Guide is systematic. Each write-up is carefully constructed to cover specific topics—
from the academic climate and the makeup of the student body to the social scene—in a systematic order.
This means that you can easily take a specific topic, such as the level of academic pressure or the role of
fraternities and sororities on campus, and trace it through all of the colleges that interest you.
HOW THE COLLEGES WERE SELECTED
How do you single out the “best and most interesting” of those 2,300 four-year colleges in the United States?
Obviously, many fine institutions are not included. Space limitations simply require that some hard decisions
be made.
The selection was done with several broad principles in mind, beginning with academic quality. Depending on
how you define the term, there are about 200 “selective” colleges and universities in the nation, and by and large
these constitute the best institutions academically. All of these are included in the Fiske Guide. In addition, an effort
was made to achieve geographic diversity and a balance of public and private schools. Special efforts were made
to include a good selection of three types of institutions that seem to be enjoying special popularity at present:
engineering and technical schools, those with a religious emphasis, and those with an environmental focus.
Finally, in a few cases, we exercised the journalist’s prerogative of writing about schools that are simply interesting.

The tiny College of the Atlantic, for example, would hardly qualify on the basis of a superior academic
program or national significance, but it offers an unusual and fascinating brand of liberal arts within the context
of environmental studies for those who seek it. Likewise, Deep Springs College, the only two-year school in the
Fiske Guide, is a unique institution of intrinsic interest.
HOW THE FISKE GUIDE WAS COMPILED
Each college or university selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges was sent a questionnaire to be filled
out and returned online. This questionnaire covered topics ranging from their perception of the institution’s
mission to the demographics of the student body. Administrators were also asked to recruit a small cross section
of students to complete another electronic questionnaire with questions relating to what it is like to be a student
at their particular college or university.
The questions for students, all open-ended and requiring short essays as responses, covered topics ranging
from the accessibility of professors and the quality of housing and dining facilities to the type of nightlife and
weekend entertainment available in the area. By and large, students responded enthusiastically to the challenge
we offered them. The quality of the information in the write-ups is a tribute to their diligence and openness.
American college students, we learned, are a candid lot. They are proud of their institutions, but also critical—in
the positive sense of the word.
Other sources of information were also employed. Administrators were invited to send us any in-house
research or other documents that would contribute to an understanding of the institution, and they were invited

Fiske Guide to Colleges 2024 by Edward Fiske