The Princeton Review (TPR) is an American-based standardized test preparation and admissions consulting company, based in Framingham, Massachusetts. It operates in 41 states and 22 countries worldwide. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude and achievement tests and advice regarding college admissions, and publishes books with Random House. Approximately 70% of the company's revenue comes from test preparation.^[4] It owns Penn Foster College a distance education institution offer trade skill certificates and undergraduate college degrees.^[5]

History[link]

20th century[link]

This section requires expansion.

The company was founded in 1981 by John Katzman, after graduating from Princeton University, and was originally based in New York City.^{[citation needed]}

21st century[link]

In August 2008, The New York Times reported that a flaw in the company's website exposed data from about 34,000 Sarasota, Florida students, including FCAT test scores.^[6] In addition, names and birthdates of 74,000 Fairfax County, Virginia students were exposed, as well as some documents regarding Princeton Review's internal procedures.^[7]

John Katzman stepped down as CEO in September 2008 after a six-month sabbatical.^[8] He was replaced with Michael Perik as CEO.

On March 9, 2011, Michael Perik resigned as CEO of Princeton Review, and the company announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2010. These figures demonstrated losses from continuing operations that totaled $50.4 million, compared to $13.9 million in losses for 2009. Following these announcements, the price of the company’s stock lost 37.80% of its value, to close at $0.51 on March 10, 2011. This decline would continue, with shares of Princeton Review stock declining an additional 23.53% to close at just $0.39 per share on March 11, 2011. In 2011, the company had lost 90% of its market value. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University or the Educational Testing Service.

On March 27, 2012, the company announced that it was selling its test-preparation and publishing business along with its brand name for $33 million to Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private-equity firm. The existing company will continue to focus on their higher education services, and will continue to operate under the same name.^[9][10]

On May 1, 2012, the U.S. Attorney for Southern New York and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General filed a civil fraud lawsuit against The Princeton Review, allegedly the company had bilked a federal program for underprivileged New York City children, received millions of dollars for tutoring services that it did not provide. The activity allegedly occurred within the company’s former Supplemental Educational Services division (SES), which the company discontinued in 2010. No former SES employees or executives are with the company today.^[11][12][13]

Test preparation[link]

The Princeton Review offers preparation courses for various tests:^[14][15]

School on Broadway (New York City).

The company offers courses world-wide through company-owned and third-party franchises. Countries with Princeton Review franchises include China, India, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.^[16]

The Princeton Review offers both private tutoring and classroom courses. Most courses and tutoring guarantee an improvement in scores.^[17]

College admissions[link]

The Princeton Review Bookstore^[18] publishes various guides to colleges, including The Best 373 Colleges, the Complete Book of Colleges, the Parents' Guide to College Life, College Essays That Make a Difference, Guide to College Majors, and Guide to Colleges For Students With Learning Disabilities. It also publishes test preparation books for various exams.

The Princeton Review website provides free advice and tools for college admissions.^[19] It also provides the rankings from The Best 371 Colleges, including "Top 20" lists in categories such as "Professors Get High Marks," "Happiest Students," "Party Schools," and "Dorms Like Dungeons."^[20]

The admissions division also offers services to high school guidance departments^[21] and colleges.^[22]

Criticisms[link]

Test preparation providers, including the Princeton Review, have been criticized in the past on the grounds that their courses claim larger score increases than they deliver.^[23]

College rankings, including those published by the Princeton Review, have been criticized by educators and commentators for failing to be accurate or comprehensive by assigning objective rankings formed from subjective opinions.^[24] The Princeton Review officials counter that their rankings are unique in that they rely on student opinion and not just on statistical data.^{[citation needed]}

The American Medical Association has criticized the Princeton Review list of Best Party Schools and requested that the list be discontinued.^[25] The rankings for LGBT-related lists have also been criticized as inaccurate due to outdated methodologies.^[26]

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2012)

External links[link]

• Official company website

v t e University ranking systems Global Academic Ranking of World Universities · Global University Ranking · High Impact Universities · Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities · QS World University Rankings · Times Higher Education World University Rankings · Webometrics Ranking of World Universities Regional European Union · Latin America National Brazil · Canada (Maclean's) · China (Chinese Academy of Management Science · Netbig · Ranking of billionaire alumni) · Germany · Japan (Going broke universities - Disappearing universities · Truly Strong Universities) · Mexico · Russia · South Africa · United Kingdom · United States (Center for Measuring University Performance · Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index · The Princeton Review · U.S. News & World Report · The Washington Monthly) Category

Lauren Graham
Lauren Graham, 2008
Born	Lauren Helen Graham (1967-03-16) March 16, 1967 (age 45) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, producer
Years active	1995–present

Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.

Early life[link]

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Donna Grant, a fashion buyer, and Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist^[1] who is the current president for National Confectioners Association. Graham is Irish Catholic.^[2] Graham's parents were divorced when she was only five years old, and Graham moved to Washington, D.C., where her father became a congressional staffer.^{[citation needed]} As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting,^[3] honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team.^[4] She earned her actor's equity card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.^{[citation needed]} Graham graduated from Barnard College in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.^{[citation needed]} After moving to Texas in 1992, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

After completing her education, Graham moved back to New York City where she became a waitress and aspiring actress, including her first paid work doing publicity appearances wearing the costume of Striker, the dog mascot of the US-based 1994 FIFA World Cup.^[5] In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood, California. She appeared in various commercials for products such as Dimetapp and Lean Cuisine and hosted free preview weekends on The Movie Channel.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime-time television, Graham starred in three failed sitcoms, including Townies (with Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman) and the short-lived sitcom Lush Life (with Lori Petty and Karyn Parsons).^{[citation needed]} Between 1996 and 1997, Graham became a regular guest star on several hit NBC shows. She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Richard's dim-witted girlfriend on Caroline in the City, and Jerry's speed-dial ranking girlfriend on Seinfeld. She played a Hollywood producer who had a love interest in Rey Curtis in a three-part episode of Law & Order, where she acted opposite Scott Cohen, who would later play one of Graham's love interests, Max Medina, on Gilmore Girls. She also portrayed a villainous efficiency expert on Newsradio.

In 2000, Graham landed her breakthrough role as Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. For her work she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards. Beginning with Season 7 episode "To Whom It May Concern" and continuing throughout the rest of the season, Graham served as a producer on Gilmore Girls. TV Guide reported that she received the position in an attempt to persuade her to sign for an eighth season.^[6][7]

Graham returned to her guest-starring roots when she portrayed herself in two episodes of NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Graham has also appeared on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, co-hosted by Dave Foley of Newsradio. After winning her preliminary match, she came in second to another former Newsradio star, Maura Tierney, in the championship game.^{[citation needed]}

Graham's film roles encompass several NYU student films and multiple major studio releases, including Sweet November, Bad Santa, The Pacifier, Because I Said So, and Evan Almighty.

Graham has said that she enjoys playing in short films, and acting in the Williamstown Theatre Festival.^[8] She has performed in numerous short films, including the 15-minute long Gnome. In 2007, Graham signed a seven-figure development deal with NBC in one of the year's richest TV talent pacts.^[9]

Graham has also worked as the voice-over announcer in national advertising for Kellogg's various Special K products, and in American Express ads introducing the Plum Card, which is targeted towards small and growing businesses.^[10]

Graham made her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the revival of Guys and Dolls, which began preview performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 5, 2009 and opened on March 1, 2009. Initial reviews for this performance have been mixed, but generally regard her fresh take on the character as a success. The production closed June 14, playing 113 shows and 28 previews.^[11][12]

It was announced in January 2009 that Graham would star in the comedy pilot, The Bridget Show (previously Let It Go) for ABC playing a talk show host and self-help guru who fails to follow her own advice during a breakup. However, the pilot was not given a series order.^[13][14]

On October 9, 2009, it was announced that Graham would replace Maura Tierney in the television series Parenthood as single mother Sarah Braverman. Tierney left the show to seek treatment for cancer.^[15] The series debuted on NBC the following year, and was later renewed for a second season.^[16]

In June 2010, it was confirmed that Graham would star in the upcoming Scream 4,^[17] but she left the project on June 30, 2010.^[18]

Personal Life[link]

Graham is currently dating her Parenthood co-star Peter Krause.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lauren Graham

• Lauren Graham at the Internet Movie Database
• Lauren Graham cast bio on The CW Official Site