TACOMA, Wash., Nov. 21, 2005 -- University of Puget Sound announced today the admission features on its Web site were recognized as among the most highly rated in the country by the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA) 7th annual Enrollment Power IndexR (EPI), a analysis of the admission Web sites of more than 3,000 post-secondary institutions.

"We are proud to have our admission Web-site recognized by NRCCUA as one of the leading sites in the nation," said Ronald Thomas, University of Puget Sound president. "We know that potential students look to admission sites to provide critical information and we are continually working to ensure our site meets their needs."

The research-based study rates how well the functionality and design of college and university admissions websites provide information to potential students and move them from prospect to applicant. The study graded the sites for each institution on a 100-point scale. University of Puget Sound was one of only 130 institutions that received an A.

"We congratulate Puget Sound for having one of the top admission related Web sites," said Don Munce, president of NRCCUA. "Prospective college students are Internet savvy, and they have come to expect the admission sections of university Web sites to provide critical information to help them make decisions. Many universities now recognize a quality Web site can be the difference between a lost prospect and a new student."

The study examined 28 different criteria that are divided into five main categories:

1. Prominence of an admission office link on the institutions home page (10.35 possible points).

2. Admission Web page design and ease of navigation (28.01 possible points).

3. Online access to admission materials (14.4 possible

points).

4. Additional admission information (36.39 possible points).

5. Ability to contact the admission office (10.85 possible

points).

To identify the admission Web site features that have the most significant impact of potential students perception of the site, an e-mail survey was sent to over 100,000 college-bound high school students asking them to rate admission Web sites. Next, over 3,000 sites were evaluated to identify functional features present on each site. Statistical tests were then used to identify the functional features that were important to students and their relative importance. Additional information on the EPI study is available at http://www.nrccua.org/ . Additional information on University of Puget Sound is available at http://www.ups.edu/ .

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CONTACT: Melissa Rohlfs, Media Relations Manager, 253-879-2611

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY: Founded in 1888, the University of Puget Sound is one of only five national independent undergraduate liberal arts colleges in the Pacific Northwest and the only one in western Washington. Its 2,600 students, drawn from nearly every state and 16 foreign countries, work closely with 212 full-time faculty and are highly engaged on campus in more than 70 student-led organizations, and in the community, with more than 75 percent volunteering for community service each year. Puget Sound hosts chapters of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi and its graduates have been regular recipients of Fulbright, Rotary, Watson, and other fellowships, including two Rhodes Scholarships.