The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has been named to The Princeton Review’s “2026 Best Colleges: Region by Region.” This is the 22nd consecutive year that the education services company has recognized the university.

“For 22 years, we’ve been recognized on this list, and that’s thanks to our outstanding faculty and staff who go above and beyond for our students,” said Rick Esch, president of the university.

“I’m especially pleased by our strong financial aid ranking. Pitt-Bradford was built to give students access to college who might not have had it otherwise, and generous financial aid is one of the key ways we keep that promise today.”

The Best Regional Colleges named 631 colleges across seven regions that it considers academically outstanding. It was the second year Pitt-Bradford has been included in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

The Princeton Review determined its ratings based on a survey of 170,000 undergraduate students, who answer questions about their school’s academics, administration and campus community.

According to student surveys, Pitt-Bradford has “the small town feel with the big city name” and “a friendly environment that encourages students to stay.”

One student reported that, “Professors recognize when students try and reward them appropriately. No good deed goes unnoticed.” Other students wrote that the teaching methods are “interactive” and that students feel that they are “a part of the learning rather just a fly on the wall.”

When addressing campus life, the students said Pitt-Bradford is a warm, friendly place where it’s easy to make friends and get to know each other.

“At Pitt-Bradford, you are a person with a name, a face, and people are going to know you; you’re not just a number,” one student said. Another student said, “All students here need to do is say ‘hi’ to another student, and you can be instant friends.”

Students also commented on life at Pitt-Bradford. “People are always out and about playing pick-up games of football, sand volleyball, soccer and basketball,” said one. “There are clubs for most majors and for a vast majority of interests from MMA to Anime to Star Wars.”

The Princeton Review also rates colleges and universities in seven categories, from academics to green initiatives, on a scale from 60 to 99. The ratings are tallied primarily from institutional data though some ratings factor in student survey data. Pitt-Bradford’s top marks were for admissions selectivity, financial aid and fire safety.

Pitt-Bradford earned a score of 86 in admissions selectivity based on the class rank, standardized test scores and high school grade point average of entering freshmen, the percentage of students from out of state and the percentage of applicants accepted. For the reported year, Pitt-Bradford had more than 4,000 applicants and an incoming class with a high school GPA of 3.36.

Pitt-Bradford received a score of 89 in financial aid, which measures how much financial aid is awarded and how satisfied students are with that aid. The average first-year total need-based aid is $21,264.

Pitt-Bradford received a score of 94 in fire safety, which measures how well prepared a school is to prevent and respond to campus fires.