Each year we assemble an awesomely talented group of colleagues who work together to produce our updated college profiles, and our 29th edition this year is no exception. Everyone involved in this effort—authors, editors, data managers, production specialists, and designers—goes above and beyond to make The Best 386 Colleges an exceptional student resource guide. For more than twenty-five years, we have worked to collect and publish what prospective college students really want: The most honest, accessible, and pertinent information about the colleges they are considering attending.
My sincere thanks go to everybody who has contributed to this tremendous project over the past quarter century. A special thank you goes to our authors, Jen Adams, Andrea Kornstein, Amanda Krupman, Hazel Schaeffer, Olivia Tejeda, and Tina Tuminaro for their dedication in poring through tens of thousands of surveys to produce the campus culture narratives of each school we profiled. Very special thanks goes to Aaron Riccio for his editorial commitment and vision, and to Stephen Koch, who continues to work in partnership with school administrators and students. My continued thanks go to our data guru, David Soto, for his successful efforts in collecting and accurately representing the statistical data that appear with each college profile. The scope of this project and its deadline constraints could not have been realized without the calm presence of our director of production, Deborah Weber, and production editor Kathy Carter—their dedication, focus, and attention to detail continue to impress and remind me of what a pleasure it is to work on this project each year. Special thanks also go to Jeanne Krier, my trusted colleague, media advisor, and friend, for the dedicated work she has done on this book and the overall series since its inception. Finally, I would like to make special mention of Tom Russell and Alison Stoltzfus, our Penguin Random House publishing team, for their continuous investment and faith in our ideas.
Robert Franek
Editor-in-Chief
Lead Author—The Best 386 Colleges