USA Today's Life Section Front Page: "Counselors List 'In' Schools"
Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog 2000
Features Results of First National Guidance Counselor Survey

According to the results of the first Kaplan National High School Guidance Counselor Survey, featured only in Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog 2000 (Kaplan/Simon & Schuster, $25.00, July 1999), the trendiest college is Stanford University--and not because Chelsea Clinton attends. Counselors cite its Division One excellence in sports coupled with Ivy League academics and resources, while their students view it as "the ultimate goal for our competitive, goal-oriented population."

Other schools cited by counselors as most trendy, and why:

Ohio University: "great job placement reputation"
University of Georgia: "rising academic excellence"
University of Colorado: "proximity to outdoor sports: snowboarding, rock climbing, etc."
University of Pennsylvania: "The 'Friendly Ivy'"
Wellesley College: "Hillary Clinton's alma mater"
University of California at San Diego: "Location, location, location"
California Polytechnic State University: "The 'Ivy League' of California"
New York University: "the setting for Felicity," the WB network's hit college drama
Texas A&M University: "school pride and spirit abound"
University of Wisconsin at Madison: Madison is the ideal "college town"
Rice University, in Houston, Texas, received the most recommendations from counselors in the "Best Value for the Tuition Dollar" category. Other schools cited as being among the best values are:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
College of William and Mary in Virginia
University of California at Berkeley
University of Texas at Austin
Truman State University in Missouri
Rutgers University in New Jersey
University of Virginia
University of Miami at Ohio
Purdue University in Indiana
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
For more information about Kaplan/Newsweek College Catalog 2000, or to schedule an interview with the publisher, contact Laura Sigman at (212) 492-5903.

Press Contact: pubrel@kaplan.com, (212) 492-5965