Press Releases

Contact: Ann McGuire, director of communications
amcguire@cia.edu 216.421.7417

CLEVELAND (Ohio) – For the third consecutive year, Cleveland Institute of Art has been named one of the best colleges in the Midwest by The Princeton Review. The nationally known education services company lists CIA as the only college of art and design among its "Best in the Midwest" recommended schools in its "2016 Best Colleges: Region by Region" website feature that posted on August 3, 2015.

Only 159 colleges in 12 Midwestern states made The Princeton Review's "Best in the Midwest" list for 2016.

“I am so proud that, once again, out of hundreds of colleges in the Midwest, CIA is included among the best by The Princeton Review,” said CIA President Grafton J. Nunes. “Significantly, CIA is the only college on this Midwest list that is a member of AICAD, the prestigious Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design."

Robert Franek, The Princeton Review's senior vp-publisher, noted, “We chose Cleveland Institute of Art and the other outstanding institutions on this list primarily for their excellent academics.” In fact, CIA’s review on the Princeton site states that, “Academically, liberal arts are emphasized, especially in the first year.”

The Princeton Review editors made their selections based on data the company collected from its survey of administrators at several hundred colleges in each region, as well as its staff visits to schools over the years, and the perspectives of college counselors and advisors whose opinions the company solicits.

“We also gave careful consideration to what students enrolled at the schools reported to us about their campus experiences on our student survey for this project,” Franek added. “We designed our 80-question survey to include questions that prospective applicants might ask on a campus visit. Only schools that permit us independently to survey their students are eligible to be considered for our regional 'best' lists, and only schools at which we see a strong level of satisfaction among their enrolled students – whom we consider their customers – make it to our final slate of regional 'best' college selections.”

The Princeton Review survey asks students to rate their colleges and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life. Some student comments in the profile on CIA are that the college offers “flexibility in exploring other fields of study while pursuing a focused major;” and that CIA is a good match for students who dream of “becoming a more thoughtful and skillful artist or designer.”

Collectively, the 649 colleges on The Princeton Review's "regional best" lists constitute about 25% of the nation's 2,500 four-year colleges. The Princeton Review does not rank the 649 colleges, either overall, by region, or in various categories. However, some schools on the "regional best" lists that also appear in The Princeton Review's book, The Best 380 Colleges: 2016 Edition, appear on some of the company's 62 ranking lists of "top 20 colleges" that are published in that book. All of those ranking lists are based entirely on the company's surveys of students at the 380 schools in the book.

The 159 colleges that The Princeton Review chose for its "Best in the Midwest" 2016 list are located in twelve states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Princeton Review also designated 225 colleges in the Northeast, 125 in the West, and 140 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the company’s "2016 Best Colleges: Region by Region" lists.

The Princeton Review is an education services company known for its tutoring, test-prep courses, books, and other student resources. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University

About CIA

Founded in 1882, Cleveland Institute of Art is an accredited, independent college of art and design offering 15 majors in studio art, digital art, craft disciplines, and design. CIA extends its learning opportunities to the public through gallery exhibitions; lectures; a robust continuing education program; and the Cinematheque, a year-round art and independent film festival. CIA’s public programming is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. For more information visit cia.edu.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school-bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The Princeton Review is headquartered in Natick, MA and is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI). For more information, visit www.princetonreview.com. Follow the company on Twitter @theprincetonrev.