Three of the commonwealth’s schools have landed in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the nation’s top colleges.
The University of Virginia held its No. 26 ranking on the list from last year. Virginia Tech and William & Mary tied again on this year’s list, dropping one spot from No. 51 to No. 52. Virginia Tech also ranked No. 42 among the most innovative schools.
George Mason University dropped four spots from No. 117 to No. 121. However, it ranked No. 42 among the most innovative.
James Madison University came in at No. 137 overall and No. 50 for most innovative. Virginia Commonwealth University ranked No. 156.
Other Virginia schools on the list include Marymount at No. 276, Shenandoah University at No. 288, Emory & Henry at No. 317, Old Dominion University at No. 328, the University of Lynchburg at No. 332, and Liberty University at No. 365.
Washington and Lee ranked No. 12 for national liberal arts colleges. Virginia Military Institute (No. 4), Christopher Newport University (No. 7), and University of Mary Washington (No. 9) were among the top 10 public liberal arts schools.
New Best Value Ranking
In a new “Best Value” ranking, among Virginia schools, UVA ranked No. 27, Virginia Commonwealth University ranked No. 121, and William & Mary ranked No. 137. Virginia Tech ranked No. 153, George Mason was No. 189, and James Madison was No. 197.
Nationally, Princeton topped the best value category, followed by Harvard at No. 2 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No 3.
U.S. News calculated the best value based on academic quality and the percentage of students receiving financial aid. “The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically,” according to the publication.
The Top 10
There was quite a shake-up in this year’s top 10 list compared to last year.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology rose from No. 4 to claim the No. 1 spot. Last year’s No. 1 Princeton fell to No. 2, followed by Harvard at No. 3.
Yale dropped a spot to No 4, as did California Institute of Technology to No. 5.
Stanford rose from No. 10 to No. 6, and University of Pennsylvania took the No. 7 spot held by Vanderbilt last year, which dropped to No. 16.
The University of Pennsylvania ranked No. 7, followed by Duke at No. 8. John Hopkins, Northwestern, and University of Chicago tied at No. 9.
Feature image courtesy University of Virginia
