Professors, reputation for excellence makes University “attractive place to come.”
The Princeton Review, a company that offers test preparation and admissions guidance for high school students, recently listed Appalachian State University as one of the best universities in the Southeast.
The list was comprised of 140 schools from 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Princeton Review based the list on data submitted by the schools as well as surveys taken by university students and faculties.
Appalachian State’s professors are one of the university’s biggest strengths according to the review.
“Students agree that most professors get to know each student by name and really strive to make connections [to] everyone in their classes,” the Princeton Review wrote about Appalachian State. “They embrace all sorts of teaching styles, but are always open to helping students outside of class.”
Mike Mayfield, the Executive Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, believes Appalachian State attracts talented professors because of the school’s existing reputation.
“Excellence breeds excellence,” Mayfield said. “The reputation the university has makes it an attractive place to come.”
According to data provided by the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning at Appalachian State, student performance has risen in recent years as the university’s reputation has also grown. For the 2009-2010 academic year, the average student GPA was 3.06. For the 2013-2014 academic year, it was 3.11.
Mayfield also believes the school’s admissions selectivity is an important factor in Appalachian State’s high performance.
“We had over 15,000 applications for the freshman class of roughly 3,050 [students],” Mayfield said.
According to the Princeton Review’s report, the average weighted GPA of accepted students in 2014 was 4.5.
“We attract really strong students here for a variety of reasons,” said Heather Langdon, the interim director of Institutional Research and Planning. “The location is a big factor. The beauty of the campus I think makes a difference. … And then there are the academics. We have a great reputation in a lot of our fields, and overall, people know ASU is a good place to go to school.”
The report also cites Appalachian State’s reputation for being eco-friendly.
“[Students] also enjoy the school’s focus on green initiatives and sustainability, noting that their education is strongly influenced by the surrounding environment,” the report says.
Of the 140 colleges on the list, 20 of them are from North Carolina.
“The UNC System has a good reputation for being a strong system of college education, and on top of that we have very strong private institutions,” Langdon said. “We’re fortunate to be a state that has this citizenship which values higher education.”
Story by Tommy Culkin, News Reporter
Photo by Malik Rahili, Editor in Chief