Clark University has again been recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education. Clark is included in the education services company’s 2013 annual college guide, “The Best 377 Colleges,” released August 21.

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide.

“The Best 377 Colleges” (Random House / Princeton Review) commends Clark University and others for outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for selection of schools for the book.  The choices are based on institutional data collected about schools, visits to schools over the years, feedback gathered from students, and the opinions of Princeton Review staff and its National College Counselor Advisory Board.

The guide includes extensive comments from Clark students who were surveyed about academics (“Clark is ‘a warm environment where the student’s education is paramount and the professors here are devoted to what they research as well as how they teach.’ ”); student life (“Community involvement is huge.”); and their peers (“Clark offers a ‘great community’ full of ‘friendly, witty, approachable, very conscious and active’ students.”)

The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book academically or from 1 to 377 in any category. Instead it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of “top 20” colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 122,000 students (about 324 per campus on average) attending the colleges in the book and not on The Princeton Review’s opinion of the schools.  The schools in “The Best 377 Colleges” also have rating scores in eight categories that The Princeton Review tallies based on institutional data collected from the schools during the 2011-12 academic year and/or its student survey for the book.  The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list in the book and at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx.

The Princeton Review has posted the school profiles and ranking lists in “The Best 377 Colleges” at PrincetonReview.com.  There users can find detailed information about the book, access its list, “150 Best Value Colleges for 2012,” and see its “Honor Roll” lists saluting schools that received the highest possible score, 99, for Financial Aid, Fire Safety and Green ratings.   The schools in “The Best 377 Colleges” are also part of a group of 633 colleges that The Princeton Review commends (but does not rank) in its website feature, “2013 Best Colleges: Region by Region – Northeast / Midwest / Southeast / West.”

The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com) is an education services company known for its test-prep courses, tutoring, books, and other student resources. Headquartered in Framingham, MA, the company is not affiliated with Princeton University.