{"id":51788,"date":"2025-08-18T07:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T14:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiosurvivor.com\/?p=51788"},"modified":"2025-11-16T17:17:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T01:17:56","slug":"2026-best-college-radio-stations-list-from-princeton-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radiosurvivor.com\/2025\/08\/2026-best-college-radio-stations-list-from-princeton-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 “Best College Radio Stations” List from Princeton Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The annual Princeton Review “Best College Radio Stations” list is here, just in time for the 2025-2026 academic year. Appearing within The Best 391 Colleges<\/a> \u2013 2026 edition<\/em>, the “best college radio station<\/a>” list shines a spotlight on 25 schools with radio stations deemed the most popular based on student surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Entrants to the List Hit the Top 10<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A highlight of the new list is that it features four schools that have never appeared in the “Best College Radio Station” list in the 30+ years of its publication. Notably, two of those schools made their debut on the list by appearing in the Top 10. Washington and Lee University came in at #3 and Rollins College is in the 9th slot. Additionally, two schools on this year’s list hadn’t appeared on the “Best College Radio Station” list in 20 years or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

East Coast Dominates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once again, the Princeton Review list is a mix, including large universities with multiple radio stations as well as small liberal arts colleges with online-only stations. The biggest school on the list is Arizona State (with 195,000+ students) and the tiniest is Bennington College (797 undergraduates). I am also pleased to have visited college radio stations at 6<\/s> 7<\/s> 8 out of the 25 schools on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The East Coast still dominates, although there was a slight increase in representation this year in other regions. California is once again absent from the list. In this edition, 11 schools from the northeast made the cut (3 from New Jersey, 3 from Massachusetts, 2 from New York, 1 from Vermont, 1 from Pennsylvania, and 1 from Maine). From the Midwest, the 6 schools hail from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio (2). On the west coast, only 3 schools are represented (1 from Washington and 2 from Oregon). The three schools from the South are from Florida (2) and Virginia. And the Southwest is represented by two schools, one each in Texas and Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best = Popular<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a reminder, although the Princeton Review describes its college radio results as \u201cBest College Radio Station,\u201d the title doesn\u2019t tell the whole story. Here\u2019s the scoop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Results are based on student surveys<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Surveys were conducted at 391 colleges. Per Princeton Review, “They constitute only about 15% of America’s nearly 2,400 four-year institutions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Students are asked to judge the popularity<\/strong>, not the quality, of an unspecified campus radio station at their own college<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Radio stations are not named in the survey or in the resulting rankings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Only schools surveyed can make it into the rankings, so college radio stations at schools that are not surveyed by Princeton Review won\u2019t appear on the list<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of colleges appearing on the \u201cBest College Radio Station\u201d list have multiple radio stations, including student-run stations, large public radio stations, and everything in between. It makes sense that students would indicate that their school\u2019s radio station is \u201cpopular\u201d if they are on a campus with a high profile professional radio station and\/or with several radio stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digging into Methodology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Princeton Review, \u201dWe tallied the rankings lists in the current edition of The Best 391 Colleges (published August 2025) based on the data from our surveys of 170,000 students at the 391 schools in the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The site says that the \u201cBest College Radio Station\u201d list is compiled \u201cbased on students\u2019 answers to the survey question, \u2018How popular is the college radio station?,\u201d but in recent years, the question was phrased a little differently. For the 2021 edition\u2019s list, the survey asked, \u201cHow much do you agree or disagree with the following statements at your school?\u201d <\/em>Among the list of statements was: \u201cCollege Radio Station is popular.\u201d <\/em>Respondents were given the following options: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Agree or Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Similar is this Year\u2019s List to Prior Lists?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the 2026 Princeton Review list of \u201cBest College Radio Stations,\u201d 17 of the 25 schools were on the 2025 list. Washington and Lee University<\/strong>, Rollins College<\/strong>, John Carroll University<\/strong> and University of Portland<\/strong> are brand new entrants, not having appeared during the entire history of Princeton Review lists going back to the 1993 edition. The other four schools that did not appear last year include Rice University (last appeared on 2002 list), Grinnell College (last appeared on 2006 list), Monmouth University (last appeared on 2021 list) and Macalester College (last appeared on 2024 list).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those that fell off the list this year were Skidmore College, Carleton College, Princeton University, Saint Michael’s College, DePauw University, Allegheny College, Washington State University, and Hamilton College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complete list for the 2026 edition is listed below. For comparison, here are the lists from the 2025<\/a>, 2024<\/a>, 2023<\/a>, 2022<\/a> (different format- had \u201cGreat College Radio Station\u201d list), 2021<\/a>, 2020<\/a>, 2019<\/a>, 2018<\/a>, 2017<\/a>, 2016<\/a>, 2015<\/a>, 2014<\/a>, 2013<\/a>, 2012<\/a>, 2011,<\/a> 2010<\/a>, 2009<\/a> and 2008<\/a> editions of Princeton Review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 Princeton Review\u2019s Best College Radio Stations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

(aka Most Popular College Radio Stations)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Note: I\u2019ve added station names and call signs as the Princeton Review only lists school names. Schools in bold were not on the previous \u201cbest\u201d list for the 2025 edition<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Seton Hall University (WSOU 89.5 FM<\/a>, South Orange, NJ)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Reed College (KRRC<\/a>, Portland, OR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n