Monmouth College named a ‘best buy’ by Barron’s

The following comes from a press release, courtesy of the Office of College Communications.

Monmouth College has been selected to appear in the 9th edition of Barron’s “Best Buys in College Education,” which is now available in bookstores and online.

The 708-page guide is designed to assist students and parents seeking a first-rate education at an affordable price. Schools covered in the book range from publicly-supported schools that are virtually tuition-free to moderately-priced ones that provide high-quality education at bargain prices.

Colleges are selected to appear in “Best Buys in College Education” based on various criteria, including tuition rates and the results of a questionnaire that is filled out by the dean of students and by students. The final 247 colleges chosen represent the best combination of sound data and student satisfaction.

“Students who satisfactorily complete four years of course at Monmouth College … don’t just receive an ordinary bachelor’s degree,” according to the guide. “Instead, they get what one history major calls ‘the clout of diversity,’ a degree that tells employers and graduate schools that they have taken thought-provoking courses in a wide range of subjects designed to make them valuable private citizens.”

It adds, “Students are guaranteed close contact with stimulating minds--and for a price the thrifty Scottish Presbyterians who founded the college in 1853 would still appreciate.”

Those “stimulating minds”--which refers to a faculty where 90 percent of the members hold the highest degrees in their field--“know what they are teaching, believe in what they are teaching and believe in whom they are teaching,” said one student.

“Monmouth is fortunate to have faculty and staff who care deeply about our students, their learning and their success,” said Jane Jakoubek, Monmouth’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. “They go out of their way to take time for students, to challenge them intellectually and to develop their talents. The number one reason Monmouth is a great place to earn a college degree is the commitment of our faculty and staff to the students.”

The two main features of the book, which was edited by Lucia Solorzano, are data capsules and profiles, which provide such information as the campus setting, student/faculty ratio, freshman profile, faculty profile, tuition and fees and room and board. Each profile is organized around the same basic components: student body, academics, facilities, special programs, campus life, cost cutters, rate of return, payoff and bottom line.

The latest edition of “Best Buys in College Education,” which is published every two years by Barron’s Educational Series, is available online for $17.09 at www.barronseduc.com.