college stress relief<\/a> than the outdoors. Most of the colleges and universities on the Best River and Lake Colleges ranking have their own, often extensive, recreational facilities, from boat houses and beaches to trails and arboretums. Even if they\u2019re not directly on the water, students have easy access to attractions nearby – perhaps a short ride into town, or to a national or state park.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRanking the Best River and Lake Colleges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Best River and Lake Colleges span the entire continental US, from the coasts to the Heartland, and encompass a whole range of geographical features: man-made lakes built by dams for electricity, natural lakes formed by glaciers thousands of years ago, rivers that run through major cities and remote, rural rivers barely touched by civilization. Whether in the Rockies or the Appalachians, East Coast or West, subtropical or frozen north, rivers and lakes touch people\u2019s lives everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the interest of clarity, it\u2019s important to note that no ranking like this can be entirely objective. To be considered for the Best River and Lake Colleges, colleges and universities have to have enough publisher rankings and student reviews to generate a Consensus score<\/a>; therefore, schools that may have a fantastic lake or river, but not a Consensus score, were not in the running. From the initial pool – Consensus-ranked schools that are near a lake or river – our editors selected institutions that incorporate the water into their life, through recreation, research, and conservation. The institutions are put in order according to their Consensus score, creating a list that accounts for both quality of education, and quality of life.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
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