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July 9, 2002--The University of Delaware is rated a “best value” university and earns high praise in the 2003 edition of Kaplan’s “The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider’s Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges.”
Best value institutions are selected based on Kaplan’s national survey of guidance counselors and are judged to provide the best quality of education for the tuition dollar.
UD is one of 42 best value universities, an exclusive group that also includes Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Michigan, Penn State, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
The guide’s entry for the University of Delaware notes, “With an excellent honors program, undergrad research opportunities and 65 study abroad programs, UD is gaining national prominence. The engineering program is top-notch.”
Kaplan cites what it calls “an overenthusiastic New Jersey guidance counselor” as rating UD “one of the top universities in the nation” and “similar to Princeton.”
“Before you dismiss this claim out of hand,” Kaplan continues, “consider some of this state-assisted, privately controlled university’s special study options, such as a highly selective honors program.”
The publication recognizes the University for its focus on undergraduate research, study abroad, which it notes was founded at UD in 1923, and technology. It quotes a UD junior as saying, “Our school is really net-friendly, so professors are usually very accessible and tend to post notes and assignments online–a huge help.”
The guide describes UD’s 2,346-acre campus as “beautiful” and points to convenient shuttle buses that traverse the campus and surrounding community. A recent graduate told Kaplan, “Students don’t need cars to get around. There’s tons of public transportation.”
Kaplan said one alumnus was asked why she would recommend UD to high school seniors. She answered, “The people!”
“There’s certainly an open and friendly atmosphere both on campus and in the charming town of Newark,” the guide continues. “Townies and students alike take special pride in UD’s winning football team; the Blue Hens are consistently ranked among Division I-AA’s top 20. Fans go wild when the UD cheerleaders ring the Victory Bell in the southwest corner of Delaware Stadium each and every time the Blue Hens score.”
The guide also cites the popularity of UD basketball and notes broad participation in intramural sports offered on campus.
UD also was featured recently in a listing of “Cool Schools” in Careers and Colleges Magazine. [magazine web site link is http://www.careersandcolleges.com/] The publication featured 15 schools it called “underrated gems” among American colleges and universities.
Steve Antonelli, coauthor of “College Match,” made the selections, which included the universities of Chicago, Kansas and Pittsburgh.
“The University of Delaware is a public university that is affordable, medium-size and academically rigorous,” Antonelli wrote. “The school touts itself in its literature as a ‘major research university’ that ‘remains a small place where you can interact with your professors.’”
He added, “Newark’s convenient location allows students to do internships (and maybe even have fun) in D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City. Professors often help students find research jobs and internships at Fortune 500 companies such as nearby DuPont. A recent movement toward an efficient campus-wide computer system has really connected students, faculty, and administrators.”
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