MONTEVALLO—The University of Montevallo has joined a list of unique institutions of higher learning in a book titled America’s Best Kept College Secrets, An Affectionate Profile of Extraordinary Colleges and Universities. Authored by Peter Arango, an admissions counselor for 40 years and an editor of the Houghton Mifflin Guide to U.S. Colleges and Universities, the book profiles “colleges of character and quality that offer exceptional opportunities to well prepared students from around the country.”
Montevallo is one of 31 schools included in this second edition of America’s Best Kept College Secrets, joining a number of private and public institutions that compare favorably with more highly visible colleges. All sorts of colleges are included: fine arts colleges, technical colleges, those with religious affiliation, rural colleges, urban colleges and large universities.
The author’s goal is to bring to light many colleges and universities that may be known in their region but are not generally recognized outside their geographic areas. He says, “The bottom line is that these are best kept secrets for reasons that have nothing to do with quality; graduates of these colleges are loud in their praise of their alma mater, and many of those graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in a variety of fields.”
Arango’s profile on the University of Montevallo highlights not only its membership in the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, the scenic campus and the quality and diversity of the education provided, but also takes note of such features as the James Wylie Shepherd Observatory, the Ebenezer Swamp Environmental Preserve and the ValloCycle Bike Share Program. He also cites application/acceptance/enrollment figures as well as other statistics for analysis and comparison purposes.
More information on America’s Best Kept College Secrets, An Affectionate Profile of Extraordinary Colleges and Universities is available at: http://bestkeptcollegesecrets.com.