Based on surveys by students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania—which recognized the university for “highly personalized attention and support”—IUP has been selected for the Princeton Review’s “2024 Best Colleges” guidebook.
IUP has been included in the guidebook for more than two decades.
IUP is also included in the publication’s 2024 “Best College’s Region by Region” listing, selected by guidebook editors as a university that is “academically outstanding” and well worth consideration in a student’s college search.
Fewer than 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges were chosen for the 2024 publication.
Surveys and interviews with students are the basis for selection for the annual guidebook. Schools in the guidebook are ranked in eight categories, including academics, admissions selectivity, and financial aid.
The guidebook narrative about IUP recognizes IUP’s commitment to student success and individualized support:
“From the first day a student sets foot on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus, they receive highly personalized attention and support. Each student is immediately assigned a professional mentor, and students say one of the school’s greatest strengths are these ‘staff and faculty who aim to help the students academically, personally, or professionally.’ Affirms one student, ‘they want to ensure we all have a good and safe experience at IUP.’”
“IUP is committed to being a student-centered university, meeting students where they are, and helping them to succeed in every way possible,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said. “It’s extremely gratifying to read these comments and know that our students recognize that they are the focus of everyone’s work at IUP.”
The guidebook also quoted students as describing the IUP community as “widely diverse, yet inclusive, [which] creates a wonderful environment to want to be a part of.”
The guidebook continues: “Students here are ‘supportive, collaborative, and unique’ and ‘provide a welcoming environment for [incoming] students’ of all kinds, including the ‘very welcoming’ LGBTQIA student body and international population. This is ‘a group of people that likes to try new things… and ‘everyone has their own style and views,’ and ‘seems to be respectful of each other.’”
“These comments make me very proud and very grateful for our amazing students,” President Driscoll said. “Our students are inquisitive and open to new experiences and perspectives. They work hard, they have fun, and most of all, they care deeply about one another. This feeling and attitude of respect and concern is at the heart of our entire IUP community: our employees, alumni, friends, and neighbors,” he said.
Students interviewed for the publication recognize that IUP professors “‘care a lot about the success of their students and go out of their way to help them truly understand what is being taught.’” Students also recognized the value of IUP’s more than 200 clubs and organizations, and said that the university is “‘amazing at communicating these opportunities.’”
The guidebook’s entry about IUP closes with recognition of all that IUP offers to students: “All in all, the ‘opportunity that IUP provides students in terms of activities, networking, and future career guidance’ is at a high level, especially for ‘great on-campus job[s]’ and there are ‘a lot of resources around campus to help you with anything you could think of.’”
IUP offers more than 160 academic degree programs, including more than 50 graduate programs. In addition, students can complete more than 65 minors—including a unique teamwork minor—and scores of specialized tracks and certificate programs, including certificates in athletic coaching, preschool education, geospatial intelligence, photography and digital imaging, popular music, and public history.
IUP has a longstanding commitment to research on all levels and in all disciplines. In 2021, IUP was selected as one of only two public universities in Pennsylvania and one of only 93 public universities in the United States selected for the “High Research Activity” designation by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Institutions of Higher Education.
IUP is routinely selected by national publications and websites for excellence, including College Magazine’s “top 10 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania; U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges” list; Washington Monthly’s national ranking of universities based on contributions to society; in Forbes Magazine as one of “America’s Top Colleges;” as the number two most affordable college in Pennsylvania by Academic Influence; and in a number of rankings for excellence and affordability of online programs.