Academy ranked among nation's best colleges

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNS) --  The Air Force Academy received top-10 rankings in most available professors, low drug and alcohol use, and best school administration, according to The Best 376 Colleges book, released today by Princeton Review.

The Princeton Review ranks the Air Force Academy's faculty fifth in the nation in "most accessible professors" and ranked the Academy's administration as No. 9 in the nation in "School Runs Like Butter."

At the U.S. Air Force Academy, the student-faculty ratio is 8:1, average class size is 20, 100 percent of the faculty are full-time and no classes are taught by teaching assistants. Several academic departments here also staff extra instruction laboratories throughout the academic day, with at least one professor available each class period to help cadets tackle questions arising from their latest lessons. The Princeton Review ranked the Air Force Academy number one in professor availability in its 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Best Colleges editions, and number four in the same category for its 2010 Best Colleges edition.

The Academy also came out in several other top-20 rankings in the nation, including:

- Don't Inhale - 1st
- Got Milk? - 4th
- Scotch and Soda, Hold The Scotch - 5th
- School Runs Like Butter - 9th
- Stone-Cold Sober Schools - 13th

The Air Force Academy was also selected as one of the Best Western Colleges on the book's regional college list. The Princeton Review features the Air Force Academy and other local colleges in The Best 376 Colleges, the new 2012 edition of its annual best colleges guide. The guide utilizes online student surveys in 62 categories to assess the academic, administrative, social, extracurricular and quality-of-life aspects at American colleges.

"Each of our 376 best colleges offers outstanding academics," says Robert Franek, the book's author and Princeton Review senior vice president and publisher. "We don't rank them hierarchically, 1 to 376, because they differ widely -- and importantly -- in their program offerings and campus culture, and that is their strength. Instead, we tally lists of the top 20 schools in 62 categories based entirely on what students at these schools tell us about their campus experiences. Our goal is not to crown one college 'best' overall, but to help applicants find and get in to the college best for them."

The book's college profiles and ranking lists are posted on http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx.  

The Air Force Academy's fall semester begins Aug. 4.

(Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs.)