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Feb. 3, 2015 – Allegheny College is one of the nation’s best colleges for students seeking an outstanding academic experience, excellent career preparation and generous financial aid, according to the Princeton Review.

Allegheny is one of 200 schools that the education services company profiles in its new book “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Best Value Colleges and What It Takes to Get In – 2015 Edition,” released today.

The Princeton Review’s “Return-on-Education” rating measures 40 weighted data points, including academics, cost, financial aid, student debt, graduation rates, alumni salaries and job satisfaction. The company based its ROE rating on data collected in 2013-14 from surveys of administrators and students at 650 colleges, plus surveys conducted by PayScale.com through April 2014 of alumni of the same schools.

“Allegheny College is frequently cited as one of the best small liberal arts colleges in the country,” notes the Princeton Review in the book’s profile of Allegheny. “Known for combining extremely rigorous academics with an ethos that emphasizes community, social progress, and service, the school encourages its students to pursue ‘unusual combinations’ of interests—both academic and extracurricular.” The profile also recognizes Allegheny for “providing a top tier education and high graduation rates with affordable prices.”

The profile’s career information section lists a high Return-on-Education score of 85 for Allegheny. The college’s Office of Career Education comes in for particularly high praise. The guide reports that “students rave about the career services department as ‘fantastic’ and ‘awesome’ and ‘without equal not only with regard to their connections to the ‘real world’ but also to their compassion to finding the next step in each student’s journey.”

The college’s Office of Career Education is part of the Allegheny Gateway and the newly opened Academic Commons, a central location for study and collaboration in which students can access the resources they need to thrive at Allegheny and in their lives after college.

In addition to its inclusion in “Colleges That Pay You Back,” Allegheny College was ranked 34 among liberal arts colleges that represent “the best bang for the buck” in a report that Washington Monthly based on the economic value students receive per dollar.

Allegheny College is also included in the Princeton Review’s “The Best 379 Colleges.” In addition, Allegheny is one of only eight schools in its category recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an “Up-and-Comer” in its rankings. The college has also earned accolades for being a leader in campus sustainability efforts. The Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, listed Allegheny College among the top colleges and universities in the nation for green initiatives, institutions that the Sierra Club calls “America’s coolest schools.”

Allegheny is also among the 40 schools profiled in the influential book “Colleges That Change Lives,” authored by Loren Pope and revised by Hilary Masell Oswald.