SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- Wittenberg University has recently been recognized by four popular college guides as a leading national liberal arts college.

In the past seven days three major college guides were released -- The Princeton Review's "The Best 351 Colleges," Kaplan's "Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges," and U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" -- all placing Wittenberg among the nation's most distinguished colleges.

Also recently released is a new guide published by Student Horizons Inc., listing Wittenberg as one eight Ohio colleges included in "America's Colleges of Distinction." That guide cited Wittenberg's academic strengths as a potent combination of an "engaged" student body with a "dedicated and highly accomplished Wittenberg faculty" which "challenges you to develop a thirst for knowledge...."

The Kaplan guide focuses mostly on the reports of current students who praise the small class size and plentiful faculty attention. "There is never a dull moment" in "Witt World," the guide noted.

"Wittenberg had the largest and most talented applicant pools in its history this year," said Kenneth Benne, dean of admission. "This kind of growth in national recognition happens because of a distinguished faculty, a caring and supportive staff and some great students from all over the world."

U.S. News placed Wittenberg on its list of America's Top 100 national liberal arts colleges. Wittenberg has improved its position for each of the past three years in the magazine's estimation, placing it in the Top 100 list for the second year in a row.

In the Kaplan guide, the authors sum up: "Wittenberg University's community-centered approach to education, in tandem with its interdisciplinary strengths, provide a sound holistic education."

The North Coast Athletic Conference showed very well in academic quality according to the U.S. News Top 100 rankings in which Wittenberg is joined by Allegheny, Denison, Earlham, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash and Wooster.