6. Small-town charm, world-class value

Settled into the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in a college town with some of the best hiking, skiing, fishing, cycling and climbing anywhere in the eastern United States, Appalachian State offers a classic undergraduate experience.

And with a student-faculty ration of 16:1, a Princeton Review Best Value ranking, and more than 150 majors and programs, Appalachian students get a world-class education at a small-town price.

5. When it snows, they sell sleds in the dining halls 

(So students won’t use the dining hall trays.)

4. Tough enough for the Green Berets

“I fell in love with the school,” says Major General Edward Reeder, a 1981 Appalachian graduate and now commanding general of the U.S. Army’s Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “I think when I look back on my experience at Appalachian State, the real value was with the people.”

3. A football victory so epic it has its own Wikipedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appalachian_State_vs._Michigan_football_game

In 2007, the Mountaineers football team traveled to Ann Arbor for a regular season contest they were widely expected to lose. In front of a crowd of more than 109,000 Michigan Wolverine fans — about six times the number of people who live in Boone — AppState walked away with a 34-32 victory in what Sports Illustrated called an “all-time upset.” The Mountaineers went on to finish the season with their third straight FCS title.

2. Mountaineers ask the big questions.

“Part of our responsibility as professors and mentors is to help students develop a personal definition of success that will lead not just to successful careers, but also to successful lives,” says Dr. Marty Meznar, associate dean for international programs at Appalachian’s Walker College of Business. “Stepping outside their culture and their comfort zone are critically important factors in helping expand students’ thinking about what is really important.”

Professor Meznar in Malawi

1. One of the happiest campuses in the country

In a nationwide survey of college students — covering more than 600 schools — Appalachian ranked fourth for the happiest, most satisfied students. The mountain air must be good for the soul.