UNCA Listed Among Top Twenty Best Academic Values in the Nation;
Named One of the Best 345 Colleges in the U.S.

UNC Asheville was recently ranked eighth among the nation’s 20 best academic values in the 2003 edition of The Princeton Review’s "The Best 345 Colleges." The listing is based on a combination of UNCA’s academic rating, financial aid rating and tuition price. This particular designation is a first for UNCA, which has been featured in The Princeton Review for eight consecutive years.

Earlier this fall, UNCA was named a "Best Buy" among American colleges for the ninth consecutive year in the well-respected guidebook "The Fiske Guide to Colleges."

The Princeton Review gave UNCA’s faculty high marks for teaching ability, accessibility outside the class and knowledge of subject matter. Departments earning praise include environmental studies, literature and language, philosophy and Two-Plus-Two engineering. Students were especially pleased with UNCA’s small class size, extracurricular activities and campus beauty.

Ranked 11th, UNC Chapel Hill was the only other North Carolina institution to be named an academic value. Other colleges and universities to make the list’s top ten include Rice University, Calvin College, Lehigh University, Southwestern University, City University of New York-Brooklyn College, Albertson College, University of Virginia, University of Georgia and University of Florida.

For more information, call UNCA’s Admissions Office at 828/251-6481 or 800/531-9842.

Media Contacts:

• Merianne Epstein, UNCA Public Information Director, 828/251-6676
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526