The Top Schools For Accessible Professors

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Access to professors is the main reason we go to college. Sure, making new friends and learning to live on your own are great too – but the benefit of learning from experts is what makes college education so important to future employers.

Consequently, that’s why we spend so much time and money on school, and why it’s a bit of a let down if you can’t actually get to know your professors. Between their teaching and research demands, the amount of time professors allot to students is usually limited to class and office hours.

It’s hard to say if students would actually utilize opportunities to hang out with professors outside of these times, but you can pinpoint the schools whose students say it’s easy to make that happen. Every year The Princeton Review lists the top 20 schools with the “Most Accessible Professors.” The list is compiled with the survey question: “How accessible are your instructors outside the classroom?”

The schools that appear on the list every year theoretically have good student-to-professor relationships. However, of the 50 schools that have made the list in the past six years, only three – the United States Military Academy, Claremont McKenna College, and Sweet Briar College – were listed every time. Eighteen schools were only listed once.

The high turnover on this list suggests that there are many schools of approximately equal professor accessibility or that professor accessibility varies widely from year to year. Either way, it’s quite an accomplishment to stay on the list for more than a few.

Here are the schools with the “Most Accessible Professors”:

The ‘Most Accessible Professors’ Rankings From 2015 to 2010

 

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2015 Rank & School 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
 United States Military Academy  1  1  1  1  4  1
 Claremont McKenna College  2  2  4  13  12  10
 St. John’s College (NM)  3  5  NR  NR  17  15
 Webb Institute  4  3  NR  16  6  7
 Swarthmore College  5  8  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Bennington College  6  9  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Bard College (NY)  7  14  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Hillsdale College  8  10  8  NR  NR  NR
 College of the Holy Cross  9  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Grinnell College  10  6  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Hamilton College  11  13  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Whitman College  12  NR  20  NR  NR  NR
 Centre College  13  12  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Wake Forest University  14  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR
 College of the Atlantic  15  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR
 The College of Idaho  16  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Scripps College  17  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR
 Sweet Briar College  18  16  7  7  3  2
 Beloit College  19  20  NR  NR  NR  NR
 United States Naval Academy  20  NR  6  4  2  9
 Whittenberg University  NR  4  14  NR  NR  NR
 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology  NR  7  NR  NR  16  NR
 University of Puget Sound  NR  11  9  NR  15  14
 United States Coast Guard Academy  NR  15  3  2  11  NR
 Reed College  NR  19  12  6  NR  NR
 Southern Methodist University  NR  NR  2  9  NR  NR
 Davidson College  NR  NR  5  NR  NR  NR
 Wellesley College  NR  NR  10  NR  13  11
 Pomona College  NR  NR  11  3  NR  NR
 Skidmore College  NR  NR  13  8  19  NR
 St. John’s College (MD)  NR  NR  15  NR  NR  18
 Hampden-Sydney College  NR  NR  16  18  8  5
 Randolph College  NR  NR  17  NR  NR  NR
 United States Air Force Academy  NR  NR  18  5  1  4
 Wabash College  NR  NR  19  12  7  3
 Williams College  NR  NR  NR  10  5  8
 Sarah Lawrence College  NR  NR  NR  11  NR  NR
 Amherst College  NR  NR  NR  14  NR  NR
 Franklin & Marshall College  NR  NR  NR  15  NR  NR
 Colgate University  NR  NR  NR  17  9  13
 Ohio University – Athens  NR  NR  NR  19  NR  NR
 Muhlenberg College  NR  NR  NR  20  NR  NR
 Stonehill College  NR  NR  NR  NR  10  17
 Harvey Mudd College  NR  NR  NR  NR  14  12
 Loyola Marymount University  NR  NR  NR  NR  18  NR
 Bryn Mawr College  NR  NR  NR  NR  20  NR
 Lawrence University  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  6
 Davidson College  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  16
 Bowdoin College  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  19
 Simon’s Rock College of Bard  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  20

Source: The Princeton Review

DON’T MISS: 

Universities With The Happiest Students
Universities With The Least Happy Students
Schools With The Best Classroom Experience
The Princeton Review: 2015 Rankings

 

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