Academy ranks top in professor availability

  • Published
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Academy professors here are the most accessible to their students in the nation, according to “The Best 361 Colleges” released Aug. 22 by The Princeton Review.

The New York-based education services company features the academy in “The Best 361 Colleges,” the new 2006 edition of its annual "best colleges" guide. Only about 15 percent of the four-year colleges in America are in the book.

The academy also ranked highly in several other categories, including:

-- No. 2: Stone-cold sober schools.

-- No. 2: Everyone plays intramural sports.

-- No. 3: Lots of race/class interaction.

-- No. 10: Best college library.

-- No. 12: Best overall academic experience for undergraduates.

-- No. 18: Students never stop studying.

"The main factor in our selection of schools in the book was our high regard for their academic programs,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review vice president of publishing.

“We evaluated them based on institutional data we collect about the schools, feedback from students at them, and visits to schools over the years. We also considered the opinions of independent college counselors, students and parents we talk to and survey. Finally, we worked to have a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character,” Mr. Franek said.

The college profiles in “The Best 361 Colleges” also include candid comments from students surveyed at the schools.

Among the student comments about the academy is one about the workload: “They purposely place 25 hours of tasks in every 24-hour day. It’s tough, but if you work as a team and put forth all your effort every day, this place won’t be too bad,” said one surveyed cadet.

Cadets average an 18 semester-hour workload until their final senior semester. Cadets also juggle their academic workload with mandatory intramural or extramural athletics, military training activities and honor and character development courses.

In addition, cadet squadrons are active with community service projects, and senior and junior class cadets hold leadership positions within the academy’s 4,000-cadet strong cadet wing.

“Overall, it’s a good experience; we learn time management very quickly,” said another surveyed cadet.

Professors, “do not go home after they leave class,” said another surveyed cadet. “They stay for a full day, giving extra instruction whenever needed.”

The academy has a 9-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. No academic courses are taught by undergraduate teaching assistants; the academy has no teaching assistants.

“The Best 361 Colleges” is the 14th edition of The Princeton Review's annual "best colleges" guide. The Princeton Review, known for its education, admission and test-prep services, is not affiliated with Princeton University or Education Testing Service.