UVa-Wise students complete degrees with least debt, according to U.S. News ranking

For the second consecutive year, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise tops the list of liberal arts colleges whose students graduate with a low debt load.

The UVa-Wise Class of 2004 completed their degrees with less debt than students at any of the nation’s other liberal arts colleges – public or private, according to the latest issue of U.S. News and World Report’s annual college guide, which hits newsstands Aug. 22.

UVa-Wise ranked first among more than 200 national liberal arts colleges for graduating students with the least amount of debt. About 68 percent of UVa-Wise graduates leave with debt. Of those UVa-Wise graduates who do have student loans to repay, the average amount of debt is $8,385. That compares to an average debt load of $35,125 for students at Bennett College in North Carolina, the liberal arts college with the largest average student debt.

“The College’s ranking is truly remarkable when you consider that nearly 80 percent of our students demonstrate financial need, the largest percentage at any college or university in Virginia,” said Rusty Necessary, vice chancellor of Enrollment Management.

“Our institutional philosophy is to package financial aid in such a way that our students incur as little debt as possible,” Necessary added. “The ranking is an affirmation of the dedication of our donors and the hard work of our Financial Aid staff, but most importantly our students are receiving a high-quality UVa-Wise education with a debt load they can manage.”

The U.S. News data includes loans taken out by students from financial institutions, federal, state and local governments, and from the colleges themselves. The average amount of debt is the average cumulative amount borrowed by those students who incurred debt, not the average for all students.

In the recent rankings, UVa-Wise continues to be listed among the nation’s top public liberal arts colleges. The nation’s 215 liberal arts colleges - most of which are private - emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts disciplines. Twenty of the nation’s liberal arts colleges, including UVa-Wise, are publicly funded.

With only the top five national public liberal arts colleges ranked individually in the current report, a precise numerical ranking is not yet available for the College. This is the fifth time UVa-Wise has been included in the national ranking. Last year, UVa-Wise ranked eighth among the nation’s top public liberal arts colleges.

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 selectivity, student/faculty ratios, faculty salaries, SAT scores, acceptance rates, financial resources, and alumni giving rates. The remaining 25 percent is based on a reputational survey of peer institutions 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.