Pioneer LogLewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

Princeton Review rates campus

September 10, 2010

by Taryn Kearns

In the most recent edition of The Princeton Review college rankings, Lewis & Clark gained standing over other colleges in the country in two separate categories: most popular study abroad program and most beautiful campus. With its lush tree-lined pathways, abundant opportunities to be educated in various foreign countries, and a prime location in one of the most progressive cities in the country, it’s hard to imagine anything better in a college campus. LC boasts all of these valuable qualities and more, so this prestigious national recognition doesn’t come as a surprise.

In its 2011 rankings, which were announced in August of this year, The Princeton Review named LC’s study abroad program no. 15 in the country. Since the overseas and off-campus programs at LC originated in 1962, the venue offerings have grown in number and variety, including 66 extremely different countries, the newest being a program in Brazil beginning in the fall of 2011. What separates the study abroad experience at LC from those at other similar schools is the opportunity for students to become totally immersed in a culture other than their own and the overall level of student participation in LC’s various programs; over fifty percent of LC students take advantage of these incomparable opportunities every year. Macalester College in St. Paul, MN and Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA, both of which provide educational experiences similar to that of LC, also received favorable rankings in the latest edition of The Princeton Review.

From the Frank Manor House to the Albany Quadrangle, LC’s forested campus contains enough natural splendor to make it shoot up to the second most beautiful college campus in the U.S in the  2011 results. There is hardly a place on campus that doesn’t reflect this ranking; even the view from most dorm windows is worth taking in.
At no. 1, just one spot away from LC in the ranking for most beautiful campus, is Sewanee—the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. Other similar colleges that rank slightly lower than LC are the University of Puget Sound and the University of California at Santa Cruz. Despite the usual lack of sunlight that goes hand in hand with being located in the Pacific Northwest, LC dominates most other competition in terms of both aesthetic appeal and unparalleled academic prospects.