College Raptor, a free college matching platform, has named Eastern Connecticut State University the best hidden gem institution in Connecticut in an announcement published on May 12.

This marks the second year of the Hidden Gem program, which highlights colleges and universities around the country that may be overlooked by students weighing their college options. Hidden Gems colleges are determined based on the number of applicants, the number of enrolled students, and the institution’s national ranking, according to data obtained by College Raptor through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

“There are many great colleges across the country,” said Tyler Hakes, director of marketing at College Raptor. “In some cases, you have colleges ranked in the top 150 or 200 schools in the nation, but they receive relatively few applicants simply because they don’t have the brand name of other institutions.

In order to qualify, institutions must have received fewer than 5,000 applications in the previous application cycle for which data is available and enroll at least 1,000 undergraduate students. From this set, the top-ranked college was selected from each state.

The national ranking or “Overall Ranking” is determined based on academic and outcome data, including graduation rate, selectivity, student-to-faculty ratio and other factors.

Eastern was one of 49 institutions recognized across the country. One college was named from each state, with the exception of Alaska, which did not have an institution meeting the criteria for recognition. The announcement is meant to call attention to institutions which may be overlooked by many students but stand out in terms of academic rigor and student success.

View the full list of Hidden Gems colleges here: http://bit.ly/HiddenGems2016