AU was named one of the nation's "best value" undergraduate institutions based on academics, financial aid and admissions policies, according to The Princeton Review in its new ranking.
The New York-based education services company, non-affiliated with Princeton University, published Tuesday its list of "America's Best Value Colleges." The book is a guide to colleges with outstanding academics, low-to-moderate tuition and fees and generous financial aid packages.
"This is a great recognition of all the excellent work happening at AU," said AU spokesperson Todd Sedmak. "It spreads the word that AU offers the best value in the Washington, D.C. area, and one of the best in the nation and the Mid-Atlantic."
The University did not rank among the top 10 of the 77 schools, as the rest were listed without a ranking. No. 1 was the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, followed by Amherst College and CUNY-Brooklyn College.
"This survey, based upon the views of more than 100,000 students, affirms the University's work to attract quality students and to provide a great academic experience," Sedmak said. "It's another reason for prospective students to attend AU."
Colleges were selected based on an analysis of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from administrators and surveys of students attending them from over 500 colleges from the fall of 2002 through the summer of 2003.
"The cost at most four-year universities have well passed $100,000. Parents and students really have to consider the cost," said Erik Olson, editorial director for the Princeton Review. "Students and parents are interested in this because of the steady increase of tuition. In the past year, tuition in public schools went up 14 percent and private that vote the most, [for] e.g. Social Security and Medicare, because they know that seniors vote. People my age look at that and figure that politicians don't listen to them, and so they don't vote."
The question of whether politicians are listening is then raised.
Professor Larissa Tracy, who was AU's faculty advisor for Generation Dean, points out that youth involvement in the Howard Dean presidential campaign increased substantially after he used the Internet to reach out to voters.
"[Gov.] Howard Dean was responsible for galvanizing the Internet generation in this campaign and sparking interest and passion in college students, a passion that [Sen.] John Kerry now hopes to harness in his run for president," Tracy said.
Although the issue of youth involvement is at the core of this study, the role of the Internet in a democracy is being questioned. The study has noticed several developments that could threaten "the survival of its growth" which include insufficient financial support, commercialism and changes in the architecture of the Internet.
Even though the Internet is playing an active tool among young adults, there is an increasing fear that media conglomerates reduce the diversity of alternative voices.
It also suggests a number of ways that would help foster youth activity and politics online. These recommendations include furthering studies to assess the impact of online efforts on offline civic engagement and the development of new funding models.
Gottlieb-Robles points out that American society is especially dependent on its media, and for this reason, the American public should demand openness, accessibility and affordability of media.
"The media is an expression of our personal selves, as citizens," Gottlieb-Robles said. "It is the tool of choice to organize, and mobilize. The Internet in its current form is a tool worth fighting for."
The study was funded by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) and study is part of the Center for Social Media's new Youth, Media, and Democracy Project, which is supported by the Surdna Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
The Center for Social Media provides the study online for those interested in an interactive and visual version of the report, as well as the links to 75 Web sites that were studied. More information is available at http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index2.htm.
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"Ithink so, depending on what class you're in, the academics are good." - Isaiah Headen is a sophomore in the SOC. |
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"Financial aid is definitely a good value ... I come from a middle-class family and I received $23,000 dollars in AU financial aid. It gave me the opportunity to choose a good school." - Frances Arroyo is a freshman in the SPA. |
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"AU's value is not that bad, but not that great ... I did receive a great financial aid package though." - Yvonne Tran is a freshman in the SPA |
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"At AU, you have to make it be valuable and make your experience and the school great." - Jonathon Bice is a freshman in Kogod |
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"Academics here are very valuable to me, the quality of professors is great, although financial aid is not so spectacular." - Aaron Beckwith is a senior in the SPA |
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"It seems pretty easy to get into AU ... I heard we have a 72% admissions rate, so I don't think the admissions policy is that challenging." - Ley Twining is a freshman in SIS |
