KINGS POINT, N.Y., September 2, 2016 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) is one of the nation's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2017 edition of its flagship college guide, "The Best 381 Colleges."  Only about 15% of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the book, which is one of The Princeton Review's most popular guides. Published annually since 1992, it includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on The Princeton Review's surveys of students attending the colleges.

 USMMA is also listed as one of 228 Best Northeastern Colleges in the Princeton Review’s Web Edition, “2017 Best Colleges: Region by Region.”

 “USMMA’s outstanding academics are the chief reason we chose it for this book and we strongly recommend it to applicants," says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior VP-Publisher and author of "The Best 381 Colleges." "We make our selections primarily based on data we collect through our annual surveys of administrators at several hundred four-year colleges. Additionally, we give considerable weight to observations from our school visits, opinions of our staff and our 24-member National College Counselor Advisory Board, and an unparalleled amount of feedback we get from our surveys of students attending these schools. We also keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."

“We are very proud to be included once again in "The Best 381 Colleges"," said Rear Admiral James A. Helis, Ph.D. , Superintendent. “USMMA offers a tuition-free world-class education to academically superior men and women of exemplary character who serve America's marine transportation and defense needs in peace and war.

Upon graduation, midshipmen receive a Bachelor of Science Degree, an Officer’s Commission in the U.S. military and a United States Coast Guard Merchant Marine Officer License which ensures a steady stream of U.S. merchant marine officers to support the nation’s economic and security interests. In exchange for their education, Kings Point graduates serve five years on active-duty in the U.S. military or work in the maritime industry for five years, with an eight year commission in any branch of the reserves.

The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges from 1 to 381 in any category. Instead it uses students' ratings of their schools to compile 62 ranking lists of top 20 colleges in the book in various categories. The lists in this edition are entirely based on The Princeton Review's survey of 143,000 students (about 375 per campus on average) attending the colleges. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from their assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their school's library, career services, and student body's political leanings.

The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list at http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/ranking-methodology

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is administered by the Maritime Administration under the auspices of the Department of Transportation.

On the web:

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

Maritime Administration

Department of Transportation