<p>Here is a link to an interesting article. I believe my freshman son would concur.<br>
25</a> private colleges with the happiest freshmen - CBS News</p>
<p>Presumes that happiness is the only variable that explains retention. :/</p>
<p>Hmm, then how would you explain it? Certainly seems a better indicator than most.</p>
<p>Princeton Review also ranked Pton highest for happiest students based on those “happy with financial aid” so that might also explain it?</p>
<p>Yeah, as 100% happy as I was at Princeton I don’t think going on retention rate is that good of a sign of happiness. The schools on that list are hard to get into and full of people who care DEEPLY about going there and about their education and are less likely to leave whether or not they were very very happy there.</p>
<p>Case in point; on the public school list the Naval Academy is third on the list of “happiest freshmen.” I’m sure that a lot of mids from the Naval Academy would describe their freshman/plebe year as “rewarding”, but it would be a bit of a stretch to claim that they are the among the happiest freshmen.</p>
<p>The retention rate percentages in the article aren’t even accurate…</p>