Towson University listed among top Northeast region colleges

By Jan Lucas on August 14, 2018

With its students touting "a diverse community" that is "focused, driven and generally social," Towson University is listed among the colleges and universities Princeton Review selected for its 2019 Best Colleges: Region by Region.

TU is one of 225 colleges and universities selected for the Best Northeastern category. Princeton Review does not assign numerical rankings.

“Towson University continues to be recognized as one of the best colleges in the northeast,” said President Kim Schatzel. “This year’s recognition is particularly meaningful because it reflects greater levels of diversity, inclusion and internship experience, which are the hallmarks of a world-class higher education.”

In addition to a thriving culture of volunteerism, active student organizations and opportunities to get involved on the campus, the list touts small class sizes at Towson University. It also notes that despite nearly 20,000 undergraduates, students say TU’s “resources and faculty ratio makes it feel like a small liberal arts school.” 

Students surveyed also boasted about TU's inclusive atmosphere and proximity to unique communities. Students said “there is a lot to do within walking distance from campus,” but that there's plenty to do on campus, too. One said: “There is a mix of people and . . . there is a group for every kind of person.”

Other students said classes can be challenging, and that the university's partnerships in the greater Baltimore region offer plenty of internship opportunities.

The website feature consists of 658 schools in five zones—Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West, and International—that Princeton Review considers academically outstanding and well worth consideration.

TU has appeared in several Princeton Review publications over the years, including Top 50 Best Value Colleges and Guide to Green Colleges.

This year, the University of Maryland, College Park, UMBC and Salisbury joined Towson University among those in the University System of Maryland on the regional list. So, too, did nine other Maryland-based schools, including Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland.

The region list also included the likes of the University of Delaware, Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Bucknell University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth University, Drexel University, Georgetown University, New York University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, University of Connecticut, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University and Yale University.

Here's how Towson University stacks up in other rankings:

• The U.S. News & World Report 2018 America’s Best Colleges guide ranked Towson University 10th in the public Regional Universities (North) category, up from 14th last year.
• In addition, TU is 23rd on the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Colleges for Veterans” rankings and 57th on its “Best Value Schools” ranking.
• Money magazine ranked Towson University among the nation’s Best Colleges, joining Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, College Park, as the highest-ranked institutions in Maryland.
• Forbes again named Towson University in its 2017 Best Colleges rankings.
• In Diverse Issues in Higher Education, TU holds the No. 43 position in the magazine’s annual Top 100 list of U.S. colleges and universities that have conferred the most bachelor’s degrees on African-Americans. The ranking includes bachelor’s degrees across all disciplines.
• Washington Monthly ranked Towson University 64th — up 20 spots from 84th one year ago — among the 632 colleges and universities surveyed for its National Universities-Master’s category. Towson University was the highest ranked public university in Maryland.
• TU also ranked 56th out of 363 U.S. public and private universities on the Washington Monthly magazine’s 2017 “Best Bang for the Buck – Northeast” list.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel's priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and Strategic Plan Alignment.