CANTON -- The Princeton Review has rated St. Lawrence University as one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education.

The university is one of 220 institutions the Review recommends in the “Best in the Northeast” section of its website feature, “2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region,” posted Aug. 1 on PrincetonReview.com.

The rankings are based on collected data, student feedback, school visits and the opinions of college counselors, students and parents. Each school is ranked in categories such as admissions selectivity, quality of life, financial aid, and environmental policies and practices.

In the overview of St. Lawrence, the Review says, “The university provides unmatched access to social and cultural opportunities, international government and outdoor recreation.”

SLU was also included on the nationwide list of 25 institutions for Best Athletic Facilities, at No. 18.

St. Lawrence students surveyed were enthusiastic about the quality of the academic experience and campus life. Comments included “Students at St. Lawrence love their professors,” and “students rave about small class sizes.” One student is quoted as saying, “All of my professors have been extremely accessible and willing to help out if I’ve ever had questions. The quality of the professors is very high.”

Robert Franek, the Review’s senior vice president and publisher, said “From several hundred schools in each region, we winnowed our list based on institutional data we collected directly from the schools, our visits to schools over the years, and the opinions of our staff, plus college counselors and advisors whose recommendations we invite. We also take into account what students at the schools reported to us about their campus experiences at them on our 80-question student survey for this project. Only schools that permit us to independently survey their students are eligible to be considered for our regional ‘best’ lists.”

The 220 chosen as “Best in the Northeast” are in 12 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the District of Columbia. The Review also designated 153 colleges in the Midwest, 121 in the West, and 135 in the Southeast as best in their locales on the “2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region” lists.

Collectively, the 629 colleges named “regional best(s)” constitute about 25 percent of the nation’s 2,500 four-year colleges.