BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland has been named one of the nation’s top institutions for undergraduate higher education by The Princeton Review in the latest annual college guide The Best 378 Colleges for 2014, and the school’s athletic facilities were ranked second in the nation by the publication.
Schools make the list because of their outstanding academic programs, and only 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are included. In addition to its recognition for outstanding athletic facilities, Loyola’s residence halls were ranked third in the nation.
“It’s an honor to be recognized once again for our commitment to offering students an educational experience of exceptional value and quality,” said Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., president of Loyola. “As a Jesuit university, we take great pride in cultivating our students’ minds, bodies, and spirits, so I’m thrilled that Loyola’s world-class residence halls and athletics facilities were lauded by such a venerable organization.”
This summer Loyola officially moved to the Patriot League and completed upgrades to the 2,100-seat Reitz Arena, home of the Greyhounds’ men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball programs, and more will be unveiled in the coming year. Loyola’s Ridley Athletic Complex, the 6,000-seat home of the University’s NCAA Division I men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer programs, is one of the most iconic facilities of its kind in the nation.
In addition, the Fitness and Aquatic Center features a two-story indoor rock-climbing wall, a fitness center, a multi-court gymnasium, and a swimming pool with a 500-seat spectator area where Loyola’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams compete.
Loyola operates 14 residence halls, including a mix of traditional doubles, suites, apartments, and townhomes. The combination of the academic and “Best College Dorms” accolades is especially relevant for Messina, Loyola’s new living-learning program for first-year students that begins this fall for roughly a third of the incoming class. Messina is designed to help students adjust quickly to college-level work and forge a clear path to success at Loyola and in the life and career that will follow. By 2015, all first-year students will be part of the program.
Loyola was also named among the 225 institutions included in The Princeton Review’s “Best Northeastern Colleges” section of its feature on top schools by region.
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges academically or from 1 to 378 in any category. Instead it reports 62 ranking lists of the top 20 colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 126,000 students (about 333 per campus on average) attending the colleges.
