The University of Arizona is once again included on The Princeton Review’s list of America’s best universities.
The U of A appears in the education service company’s “The Best 391 Colleges: 2026 Edition,” published Tuesday. The U of A earned top ratings in fire safety (99), sustainability (94) and quality of life (86). All ratings are based on a scale of 60 to 99, with 99 being the best possible score.
The university’s perfect score in fire safety earned it a spot on the publication’s Fire Safety Honor Roll – one of 36 colleges and universities to attain this distinction.
The U of A also received strong scores in financial aid (88), professor accessibility (88), admissions (84) and academics (77).
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In addition to the ratings, The Princeton Review also publishes several numerically ranked lists for various categories relating to academics and campus life. The U of A earned rankings in the following categories:
- No. 5: Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
- No. 10: Best Health Services
- No. 15: Most Active Student Government
- No. 18: Top 20 Best Schools for Financial Aid (among public universities)
- No. 40: Top 50 Entrepreneurship (No. 6 in the Southwest)
The Princeton Review chooses school for its Best Colleges list based on data it collects annually from surveys of college administrators about their institutions’ academic offerings. Only about 15% of America’s four-year colleges make the list. The specific ratings are based on data from The Princeton Review’s survey of 171,000 students at the 391 listed schools. This is the 34th edition of the publication’s flagship guide to U.S. colleges and universities.
The Princeton Review has previously recognized the University of Arizona in its rankings of Best Value Colleges, Green Colleges and Best Southwestern Colleges.
Students surveyed by The Princeton Review said that “amazing weather and a beautiful campus” help make the U of A “full of life and fun.” They added that the U of A emphasizes “communicating with its students and keeping up to date with student life” and has a “supportive and large alumni network.”
Survey respondents also said that “classrooms are often set up in a manner in which group discussion is encouraged” and that professors seek to “create an active learning environment.”
The student survey has 98 questions focused on academics, administration, fellow students and themselves.
