The Princeton Review

This article is about the consulting company. For the journal produced by Princeton Theological Seminary, see The Princeton Theological Review.
The Princeton Review
Private
Industry Education
Founded 1981
Founder John Katzman, Adam Robinson
Headquarters Natick, Massachusetts
Owner Charlesbank Capital Partners
Divisions College, Business School, Law School, Grad School, Med School
Slogan Better Scores, Better Schools
Website www.princetonreview.com

The Princeton Review is a test preparation and college admission services company offering test preparation services, tutoring and admissions resources, online courses, and books published by Random House. The company has more than 4,000 teachers and tutors in the United States and Canada and international franchises in 14 other countries. The company is headquartered in Natick, MA, and is privately held.

On August 1, 2014, the Princeton Review brand name and operations were bought for an undisclosed sum by Tutor.com, an IAC company. The company is no longer affiliated with its former parent, Education Holdings 1, Inc.[1]

Test preparation

School on Broadway.

The Princeton Review offers preparation courses for various tests at the Princeton Review website:[2]

The company offers courses world-wide through company-owned and third-party franchises. Countries with Princeton Review franchises include China, India, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.[3]

Criticisms

Test preparation providers have been criticized in the past on the grounds that their courses claim larger score increases than they deliver.[4]

College rankings, including those published by the Princeton Review, have been criticized by educators and commentators for failing to be accurate or comprehensive by assigning objective rankings formed from subjective opinions.[5] The Princeton Review officials counter that their rankings are unique in that they rely on student opinion and not just on statistical data.[6][7]

In 2002 an American Medical Association affiliated program, A Matter of Degree,[8] funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1996 to 2003 criticized the Princeton Review list of Best Party Schools and requested that the list be discontinued.[9] The AMA removed the claim from its website three weeks (Sept 2002) after its posting. In August 2002 MSN.com also ran a poll on its site as their question of the day, “Should The Princeton Review continue its party school ranking?” to which over 60% of respondents said yes. USA TODAY published an editorial titled "Sobering Statistics" [10] on August 20, 2002 about the AMA's criticism of Princeton Review's party schools list. The editorial stated, "the doctor's group goes too far in suggesting that the rankings contribute to the problem" (of campus drinking). The editorial noted the fact that among the schools the AMA program was then funding as part of its campaign against campus drinking, six of 10 of those schools calling for The Princeton Review to "drop the annual ranking".... "had made (Princeton Review's) past top-party-school lists: many times for some. That's no coincidence." The editorial commended The Princeton Review for reporting the list, calling it "a public service" for "student applicants and their parents." The editorial further added that The Princeton Review had done "the schools (named on the list)—and their students—a favor."

The rankings for LGBT-related lists have also been criticized as inaccurate due to outdated methodologies.[11] The Princeton Review bases its LGBT-Friendly and LGBT-Unfriendly [12] top twenty ranking lists on answers given by all undergraduate students at colleges completing its student opinion survey. The question asked of all students is as follows: "Do students, faculty, and administrators at your college treat all persons equally regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identify/expression?" The Princeton Review also publishes, The Gay & Lesbian Guide to College Life.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ "IAC/InterActive Unit Agrees to Buy Princeton Review name". Wall Street Journal. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Official website". Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  3. ↑ International Offices of The Princeton Review at the Princeton Review website
  4. ↑ John Hechinger. "SAT Coaching Found to Boost Scores – Barely", The Wall Street Journal, 20 May 2009.
  5. ↑ Valerie Strauss. "U.S. News’s College Rankings Face Competition and Criticism", The Washington Post, 17 August 2008.
  6. ↑ "Robert Franek – author of The Best 377 Colleges". Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  7. ↑ , “Review of student opinion survey specifics & Interview on NBC’s Today Show regarding book & student opinion ranking lists”, Aug 2012,
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ End of Top Party School's Ranking?. The Early Show. CBS News. August 27, 2002. Retrieved on October 30, 2009.
  10. ↑ USA TODAY OPED Staff,"Sobering Statistics", “USA TODAY”, Aug. 20, 2002
  11. ↑ Shane Windmeyer. "Princeton Review’s Approach IS Outdated", The Advocate, 13 August 2009.
  12. ↑ "School Rankings". Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "The Princeton Review". Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Guide to College for LGBT Students. Princetonreview.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-02.

External links