The Princeton Review has named Monmouth College one of the nation's best four-year Midwestern colleges in its "2016 Best Colleges: Region by Region" list.The New York City-based education services company selected the top 25 percent of the nation's four-year colleges and divided them into four regions Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West. "We chose Monmouth College and the other outstanding institutions on this list primarily for their excellent academics," said Robert Franke, Princeton Review senior vice president/publisher. "We also gave careful consideration to what students enrolled at the schools reported to us about their campus experiences on our student survey for the project.""Such recognition is important for the obvious reasons of visibility and credibility with prospective students and their families," said Monmouth College president Clarence R. Wyatt. "We should take appropriate pride and gratification in this third-party verification of the exceptional experience that we offer to our students an experience built in large part on our faculty and staff's commitment to the college."The Princeton Review's selections were based on institutional data collected from several hundred schools in each region, visits to schools over the years and the opinions of independent and high school-based college advisers.Students surveyed were pleased with Monmouth's "hands-on experience in scientific research" and the way the college "takes time to locate jobs" for graduates. They reported the faculty is composed of "extremely well-qualified" professors, and that "classes are small and are personal." Said another student, "You can interact with your professors a lot easier than at a larger school."Monmouth students were appreciative of the extracurricular opportunities, including playing for Fighting Scot teams in "superb" athletic facilities. Said one student about Monmouth's 120 clubs and organizations, "I am involved in at least seven. It's very easy to get involved, which I love."The Princeton Review ranked the colleges with numerical scores on a scale of 60 to 99, based on institutional data provided by the colleges and student surveys. Monmouth's highest ratings came in the areas of fire safety (84), financial aid (82) and admissions selectivity (80). Ratings can be viewed at www.princetonreview.com.Monmouth's appearance on the Best Midwestern colleges list continues a trend of national recognition for the college, which is ranked in the top 15 in the U.S. in affordability by Money magazine, is listed in Tier 1 of the nationally-ranked colleges by U.S. News and World Report and, most recently, was named a 2015-16 College of Distinction for excellence in student-focused higher education.The Princeton Review specializes in test preparation courses and books, and college admission services. It is not affiliated with Princeton University.