The Collegian is the ninth best college newspaper in the United States, according to a list released last week by Princeton Review.
“The ranking is a tribute to the hard work and excellent journalism of our students, past and present,” said John Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale.
Based on surveys of students across the country, the Princeton Review ranks colleges in 62 categories, publishing the top 20 in each. Hillsdale College placed in seven of the lists, including, for the first time, Best College Newspaper.
The Collegian finished above student newspapers at Yale University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and just below those of Cornell, Brown, Syracuse, and Columbia universities.
“All the credit for this recognition goes to our excellent journalism students, who have really improved the quality of The Collegian over the past few years,” said Maria Servold, assistant director of the Dow Journalism Program and Collegian adviser. “I’m also grateful to our readers, who are responsible for our placement.”
Since the Princeton Review began its rankings in 1992, it has asked students to evaluate their school’s newspaper, Princeton Review spokeswoman Amy Briskin said. For the 2017 rankings, students surveyed at various times throughout the academic year responded to the question “How do you rate your campus newspaper?”
Senior Shayna Fields said she reads The Collegian nearly every week to know what’s happening on campus and in the city.
“The Collegian does a great job of bringing all aspects of the community to our attention,” Fields said. “It’s nice to see Hillsdale’s perspective about what’s going on in the world. I get my world news from other media outlets, but it’s great to see what other students or even my friends are saying about it in The Collegian.”
The news garnered national attention with shoutouts from Kimberley Strassel, columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former Eugene C. Pulliam Visiting Fellow in Journalism at Hillsdale, on Twitter and radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on the air.
It’s a great newspaper! With a great journalism director! @heymiller https://t.co/iqcrnLztXD
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) August 31, 2016
Princeton Review ranked Hillsdale in its best 381 colleges and as a best Midwestern institution. The college was also No. 1 for Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution, No. 5 for most religious students, No. 6 for Professors Get High Marks, No. 7 for most conservative students, No. 12 for the least amount of marijuana use, No. 14 for most politically active students, No. 15 for students most engaged in community service, and No. 19 in the Stone-Cold Sober Schools category. It was also No. 14 for College City Gets Low Marks and No. 11 for LGBTQ-Unfriendly.
Hillsdale’s admissions office does use college rankings, like those from the Princeton Review, in its materials. Senior Director of Admissions Zach Miller said The Collegian’s recognition gives more credibility to the college’s assertion that its journalism program is great.
“We’ve always thought it was a world-class collegiate paper, and now we just have more proof to that from a very reputable third party,” Zach Miller said. “We’re very excited about that and will continue to market it and also continue to talk about this whenever we can.”
