National college guides and magazines continue to rank Bates College among the best liberal arts colleges in the nation.

In "The Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence," Bates is lauded for its service-learning opportunities and its consistent ranking in the top 10 among all colleges in terms of student participation in international study. It notes that some two-thirds of Bates graduates earn graduate degrees, and includes this summary comment from an administrator on alumni survey findings: "For a college with a long-standing reputation in the sciences, we were surprised to discover we had more graduates whose title was 'entrepreneur,' having founded their own businesses, than graduates who were M.D.'s."

In the U.S. News & World Report 2001 edition of "America's Best Colleges," Bates is ranked 19th among 162 national liberal arts colleges. The magazine compares a variety of factors, including academic reputation, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate and alumni giving rate. In a separate listing, Bates is ranked among the top 10 for selectivity.

In the most recent annual ranking by Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, Bates College ranked third among the "most wired" college campuses in the nation.

"The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2001" notes that the Lewiston-Auburn area "provides plenty of internships and part-time jobs, a distinct vocational advantage...." It concludes its listing with this quote from a Bates student: "I go to school in one of the prettiest areas of the country, eat some of the best college food ... am taught by interesting, engaging professors that really make me rethink the way that I look at the world ... and I love it."