Southwestern University has again been featured in the latest Fiske Guide to Colleges, a bestselling guide to the top 320-plus universities throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland. Among prospective students, their parents, and their high-school counselors, the Fiske Guide, now in its 37th edition, is considered one of the most authoritative sources for college information.

In this year’s profile, Southwestern is hailed as providing “a flexible and innovative brand of teaching and learning in a culture where the liberals arts are not always appreciated.” The guide highlights SU’s model of interdisciplinary and inquiry-based learning, its picturesque campus, its small class sizes, and its commitment to sustainability. Our nationally recognized Center for Career and Professional Development also earns kudos, with one anonymous junior commenting, “I definitely feel prepared for life after college because everything is a process that has been put in motion since I arrived my first semester.”

Among small colleges and universities, SU is recommended for providing exemplary academic programs in environmental studies, biology, sociology, business, and the arts. Students in the Sarofim School of Fine Arts specifically are noted as producing graduate-level creative work, and SU’s proximity to Austin is noted as a boon to both political science and STEM majors.

The guide’s selection process is based on questionnaires completed by current students and administrators as well as campus visits and supplementary research conducted by the editorial staff. Each school profile spotlights useful details such as academics, campus environment, student life, cost, financial aid, average debt, and admission rates.

The Fiske Guide to Colleges was originally compiled by Edward B. Fiske, who served as education editor of The New York Times for 17 years, and is updated annually by his editorial team. Fiske’s other books include his Guide to Getting into the Right College and What to Do When for College.