UVA-Wise Moves Up in U.S. News Ranking

The University of Virginia's College at Wise now ranks eighth among the nation's top public liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual college guide.

UVA-Wise ranked ninth on the list of national public liberal arts colleges in the previous two editions of the America's Best Colleges publication.

ÒThe recent US News and World Report ranking provides the College and its constituents with incisive proof that we are on an exciting and nationally recognized path towards becoming one of the very best public liberal arts colleges in the country," UVA-Wise Chancellor Steve Kaplan said Wednesday.

The nation's 217 mostly private liberal arts colleges emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts disciplines. Twenty-one of the nation's liberal arts colleges are publicly funded. Virginia Military Institute tops the list of public institutions.

In the U.S. News rankings, colleges and universities are categorized by mission, and sometimes by geographical region. Each school's rank, within its group of peer institutions, is based on the same set of quality measures. Seventy-five percent of the ranking is based on a formula that includes objective measures of academic quality, such as graduation rates, freshman retention, class size, student/faculty ratios, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving rates. The remaining 25 percent is based on a reputational survey conducted in the early spring. The magazine surveys the president, provost and dean of admissions at each school to rate the perceived quality of the academic programs for schools in the same category, including their own.

For more information, contact the Office of College Relations at 276-328-0130.