Furman University ranked among top five colleges for “Makings an Impact”

Furman University, long recognized for its commitment to community service, student engagement and sustainability, has been rated among the nation’s top five schools for “making an impact” in a newly-released publication by The Princeton Review.

In the 2016 edition of “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck,” Furman is ranked No. 5 in the special category of “Best Schools for Making an Impact.”  The list, published this month, ranked the schools based on student responses to survey questions about community service, student government, sustainability and student engagement on campus.

Each week hundreds of Furman students volunteer in the local community through the Heller Service Corps. From tutoring to hosting on campus events, the 50-year-old service organization works with an array of social service agencies to help children, older adults and those who are developmentally disabled. The university is also a member of the esteemed President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

Furman is the only liberal arts school in the nation to offer a bachelor’s degree in Sustainability Science. Recently, the university earned a STARS Gold Rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education in recognition of its sustainability achievements. This spring, the Conservative Conservation Corps., a volunteer component of the Shi Center for Sustainability, will weatherize its 100th home, a service made available for low income community members.

Furman has long offered vibrant and distinctive programs that connect students to real-world experiences. More than 81 percent of Furman students complete an internship or conduct undergraduate research with a faculty member before they graduate.

“We highly recommend all of our ‘Colleges That Pay You Back’ schools,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Senior VP/Publisher and lead author of the book.  “They stand out not only for their outstanding academics but also for their affordability via comparatively low sticker prices and/or generous financial aid to students with need—or both.  Students at these colleges also have access to extraordinary career services programs from their freshman year on, plus a lifetime of alumni connections and post-grad support.”

The Princeton Review selected Furman among the 200 schools that pay you back based on ROI (return on investment) ratings it tallied for 650 schools last year. The ratings weighted 40 data points that covered everything from academics, cost and financial aid to graduation rates, student debt, and alumni salaries and job satisfaction. The schools are listed alphabetically in the publication.

The data was gathered from the Princeton Review’s surveys of administrators and students in 2014-15 and from PayScale.com’s surveys of school alumni conducted through April 2015.

For more information, visit the Princeton Review website or contact Furman’s News and Media Relations office at864-294-3107.