The Princeton Review's Company Look Back at 2024 and Look Ahead to 2025
NEW YORK, Dec. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Princeton Review®, one of the nation's leading education providers, today shared its annual look back at some of the company's key offerings over the past year and look ahead to projects in the works for the year ahead.
In 2024, more than a million people turned to The Princeton Review for education-related information and resources. Students used the company's services and products to score their best on tests; tackle school assignments; improve their grades; research and gain admission to undergraduate, graduate, and medical schools; and maximize opportunities for scholarships and financial aid. Post-graduates used the company's resources to upskill for career advancement as well as prepare for professional licensing exams. Parents, teachers, counselors, advisors and members of the media reached out to The Princeton Review for information on everything from its survey findings and school rankings to trending topics in education.
The Princeton Review's services and products in 2024 included:
• Test-prep Courses. Offered for dozens of tests and regularly updated to reflect changes in the tests, The Princeton Review courses are available in various formats from live online to in-person to self-paced. Some of the most popular courses carry The Princeton Review Better Scores Money Back Guarantee. Among its courses for tests taken by college applicants—the SAT®, PSAT/NMSQT®, ACT®, and AP® subject tests—the company's SAT 1400+ course was the most popular in 2024. Among its courses for tests taken by applicants to graduate, law, business and medical schools—the GRE®, LSAT®, GMAT®, and MCAT®—the company's LSAT 165+ and MCAT 515+ courses were among the most popular.
The Princeton Review's courses for professional licensing and certification exams include its USMLE® Test Pack for MD candidates taking the medical licensing exam, and its suite of resources for the NCLEX-RN® exam which is required for licensing as a Registered Nurse. These include its NCLEX-RN LiveOnline and NCLEX Self-Paced course, and its Next Gen NCLEX-RN QBank. The company also offers courses for people preparing to take the CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst®) Level I, Level II, and Level III exams. Through a marketing partnership with Surgent Accounting & Financial Education, The Princeton Review offers exclusive discounts on Surgent's exam reviews for the CPA® (Certified Public Accountant), CMA® (Certified Management Accountant), and CISA® (Certified Information Systems Auditor) exams.
• Tutoring. The company's more than 3,000 trusted tutors are available in 80+ subjects online and on demand, 24/7. They provide customized learning sessions for elementary school through college level students as well as for post-grads. At the company's Instant Homework Help hub, tutors help students tackle school assignments and improve their study habits. At the LiveOnline Academic Tutoring hub, tutors help students earn higher grades in school, prepare for tests and achieve academic goals. In 2024, the top subjects for which students requested help from the company's tutors were: Calculus, Pre-Calculus, Algebra-based Physics, and Physics.
• Admissions Counseling. The majority (80%) of students working with the company's college admissions counselors in 2024 gained admission to at least one of their top three "dream" schools including such highly selective institutions as Harvard, MIT, and the University of Chicago. Students working with the company's medical school admissions counselors gained admission to top medical schools in the U.S. (Duke, Harvard and Stanford among them) as well as outside of the U.S. (the University of Cambridge, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Toronto among them).
• Books. The Princeton Review's line of 150+ books, distributed by Penguin Random House, includes test-prep guides and college guides, many of which have been annually updated for more than three decades. Among those long-running titles published in 2024 were the 39th edition of The Princeton Review's primary guide to the SAT; the 36th edition of its primary guide to the ACT; and the 33rd edition of its flagship college guide,The Best 390 Colleges. Additionally, the 32nd edition of its book Paying for College holds the distinction of being the only annually updated guide to financial aid with guidance on completing the upcoming school year's FAFSA® (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), a form that all aid applicants must submit, and the College Board's CSS Profile® which hundreds of selective colleges require. Other notable releases in 2024 included 575+ Practice Questions for the Digital PSAT/NMSQT and 800+ SAT Practice Questions. Popular Princeton Review guides also hit Amazon.com bestseller lists in 2024. Among them were Digital SAT Premium Prep and AP World History: Modern Premium Prep which were bestsellers in the College Entrance and Test Guides category, and AP Psychology Premium Prep which was #1 in the Amazon.com bestseller category Teen & Young Adult AP Study Aids New Releases.
• AI Tools. Students using The Princeton Review's award-winning generative AI-based tools AI College Admissions Essay Counseling and AI Homework Essay Feedback, which debuted in 2023, can upload essays they have written, and—within seconds—receive feedback, evaluation, and recommendations of ways to make their essays even better. (Note: These products do not write the student's essays.) Designed with input from the company's college admission and tutoring experts, the tools provide feedback on coherence, conciseness, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and more.
In 2024, The Princeton Review also:
• Reported school rankings in dozens of categories including its
Top Undergrad and Grad Schools to Study Game Design (March)
Best Value Colleges (June)
Best Business Schools and Best Law Schools (July)
Best Colleges (August)
Top Green Colleges (October) and
Top Undergrad and Grad Schools to Study Entrepreneurship (November).
• Conducted national education surveys including its
College Hopes & Worries 2024 Survey. Now in its 22nd year, this survey polled 10,800 college applicants and their parents in February on their application perspectives, need for financial aid, "dream" college (the school they wished they (or their child) could attend if acceptance was a given and cost was not a concern), as well as other timely issues. Among the findings: 82% of respondents overall said financial aid would be very necessary to pay for college and 73% reported high stress about their college applications. The #1 dream college among surveyed students was Harvard. The #1 dream college among surveyed parents was MIT.
College Administrator Summer 2024 Survey. Now in its 5th year, this survey polled administrators at 246 colleges in July on their fall enrollment forecasts, test policies, opinions about the revised FAFSA as well as the use of AI in college applications and admissions, and other issues. Among the findings: 75% of the administrators projected their fall 2024 enrollment to be on par with that of fall 2023; 89% reported their schools were test optional (7% said test blind; 4% said test scores were required); and 70% reported low or very low confidence that the release of the FAFSA for 2025-26 would be timely and smooth.
• Promoted mental health services on college campuses
The Princeton Review Mental Health on College Campuses project, supported by a partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, began with a survey of administrators at 2,000+ colleges about the availability of mental health services and resources at their schools. The company also surveyed college students about their awareness of such services and resources on their campuses. A report on The Princeton Review Campus Mental Health Survey findings is accessible here. In October, The Princeton Review uploaded information about schools' mental health services to 250 of its college profiles on PrincetonReview.com and named 16 schools to its Mental Health Services Honor Roll for 2025. The company also launched a content hub on its website dedicated to mental health resources. A short video on the project is viewable here.
• Provided free resources for students, parents, teachers, counselors and others
From college-night talks to test-strategy sessions to career-related webinars, The Princeton Review hosted thousands of free events in 2024. Its education experts also created dozens of videos that were uploaded to its YouTube channel. The channel's 600+ videos feature updates on standardized tests and tips for scoring well on them as well as strategies for gaining admission to (and financial aid from) colleges and universities. In 2024, the videos that were most viewed on The Princeton Review YouTube channel were AP Exams Going Digital!, The New Digital SAT: 15 Must-Know Answers About the Test, and How to Make the Best College Decision by May 1st.
• Was referenced widely in media broadcasts and print and online features
Each year, members of the media reach out to The Princeton Review for comment, advice, and information about education issues. In 2024, the company's Editor in Chief Rob Franek appeared on several national broadcasts including a segment on NBC TODAY on October 7th that was his 31st appearance on the show. It featured his advice for college applicants, reports on the company's recently reported college rankings, and comments on trending issues in education. Other media sourcing Rob included: CNBC, the BBC, Teen Kids News and Voice of America. In 2024, hundreds of regional, local and niche media reported on schools that earned various Princeton Review rankings and honors. Many schools are citing these accolades now in their 2024 end-of-year retrospectives.
• Received awards and recognition
In November, two of the leading edtech publications—Campus Technology and THE Journal—honored The Princeton Review along with its affiliate,Tutor.com, naming the company's AI-based tools for tutoring a Platinum Award-winner in their 2024 Product of the Year Awards. More information about the publications' awards program is here.
In December, The Princeton Review reported that an effectiveness study has demonstrated that the company's institutional SAT Prep program meets Level II requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). An accompanying logic model demonstrated that the program is informed by high-quality research that satisfies Level IV requirements of the ESSA. The effectiveness study and logic model were completed by Instructure Research, a third-party research and evaluation group. The study and model were designed to assess student outcomes for an institutional program in which a K–12 district partnered with The Princeton Review to provide test prep for its students.
• Welcomed new executive management
In May, The Princeton Review announced that Robert (Bob) Batten, joined the company as Chief Executive Officer, and in June, it reported that Sarah Robinson, joined the company as Chief Product Officer.
Projects The Princeton Review has in the works for 2025 include:
• Updates of its courses for standardized tests. Having updated its courses for many tests that underwent major revisions in 2024 (including the SAT, GMAT, GRE, and LSAT), the company is revising its courses for the ACT and the AP subject tests to align with significant changes in the tests in 2025. In April, the "Enhanced" ACT" will officially debut with a digital option and in a shorter format. Other changes in the test are forthcoming in September. In May 2025, 28 AP Exams will transition to digital versions.
• Updated editions of many of the company's books. The Princeton Review will publish significantly updated editions of its test-prep guides for exams referenced above that are undergoing major changes in 2025 as well as create additional resources to prepare for the new tests. The Best 391 Colleges, the 2026 edition of its annual college guide, will reveal the top colleges in 50 categories based on The Princeton Review's surveys of nearly 170,000 college students. The 2026 edition of Paying for College will provide guidance on completing the 2026–27 FAFSA as well as updates on changes in other financial aid forms and the methodologies by which aid awards are determined.
"As The Princeton Review begins its 44th year, the mission that drove the company's founding in 1981 remains as vital and relevant today," said Bob Batten, Chief Executive Officer. "Our full team is dedicated to education and to helping students reach their academic and career goals. We look forward to serving even more students in 2025 and we join with all who care about them and their promising futures."
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 44th year. The company's Tutor.com brand, now in its 24th year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 27 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) @ThePrincetonRev and Instagram @theprincetonreview.
All tests are registered trademarks of their respective owners. None of the trademark holders are affiliated with The Princeton Review.
CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products or services offered by The Princeton Review. CFA® and Charted Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
FAFSA® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Education.
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WEBSITE: www.princetonreview.com
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SOURCE The Princeton Review