The magazine took notice of Reed's full online application process, which allows applicants to pay the fee by credit card using a secure browser. In a display of computing "stars" and their alma maters, Reed alumnus Howard Rheingold '68, "net personality," was featured.

To obtain information for the "most wired" survey, Yahoo! Internet Life magazine phoned, emailed, and faxed the academic computing departments, information technology offices, public affairs people, and students of 300 colleges and universities across the country. The article reported that of the 100 most wired colleges 100 percent offer students access to online library catalogs, 99 percent offer students unlimited World Wide Web access (Reed does), 98 percent offer students a default email account (Reed does), 87 percent offer students Web space for a home page (Reed does), 85 percent host a campus-based newsgroup hierarchy (Reed does), and 71 percent supply a port for every pillow (Reed does). Other statistics that kept Reed high in the list were high rate of student ownership of computers (66 percent of Reed students own a computer) and the high percentage of classes with home pages (50 percent), classes that allow students to submit homework online (75 percent), and classes with online study aids (40 percent).

Martin Ringle, director of computing and information services at Reed, said, "We are pleased to receive national recognition by Yahoo for the sophistication of our computing and network resources." He adds, however, that a cautionary note voiced by Kenneth Green of the Claremont Graduate School is well placed. "Many other institutions that are widely regarded as leaders in networking and instructional technology are noticeably absent from Yahoo's top 25 list."