Nowadays, it seems you can't walk across Grounds without a new college ranking being released.
Two weeks ago, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University 20th overall and tied for first with the University of California-Berkeley among public schools.
A week ago, Kiplinger's Personal Finance released its listing of best values in public universities, naming the University second in value behind the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Yesterday, U.S. News, not to be outdone, published its own list of best values in higher education. However, unlike the Kiplinger rankings, U.S. News included both public and private universities.
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In the newest rankings, the University tied for 10th with six other schools: Case Western Reserve, Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, Pennsylvania and Texas-Austin. The University tied for first among public schools with the University of Texas-Austin.
Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said this ranking is perhaps the most influential in convincing students to apply to the University.
"For people for whom the cost of an education [is a primary concern], this one probably has more meaning," Blackburn said. "I think Virginia is a bargain."
University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said she was not surprised by the University's ranking.
"This ranking confirms what we've always known, that U.Va. is one of the best buys around," Dudley said.
According to U.S. News, three variables were used to rank universities: the ratio of quality to price, the percentage of all undergraduates receiving grants based on need and the percentage of cost covered by the average need-based grant to undergraduates. U.S. News used its rankings released earlier this month in order to judge the quality of an institution.
"College is a big investment for families. From a consumer point of view, these rankings can be very useful," Dudley said.
Director of Financial Aid Yvonne Hubbard said because choosing a college is such an important decision, rankings can have an effect on where students choose to go to school. Also, parents like to know they are going to receive a good value for their child's education, Hubbard said.
"Parents, especially, are big into rankings," she said. "If nothing else, rankings are a place for people to start from when researching colleges."
Some parents and students pick the University as one of their top choices because it is ranked highly on so many different lists. "It's nice to be judged so highly academically, while at the same time being considered a best buy," Hubbard said.
In order to compare public schools to private universities, U.S. News uses only out-of-state tuition and financial aid data from public schools.
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, ranked the best public university value by Kiplinger, was 19th overall in the U.S. News ranking. The University of California-Berkeley was not ranked among the top 50.
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