Five of the University's graduate programs took top rankings in this year's U.S. News & World Report's edition of America's Best Graduate Schools.
The Law School, Darden School, Medical School, Education School and Engineering School all placed within the top 40 graduate programs of their kinds.
The Law School retained its eighth place ranking from last year, while the Darden School of business moved up from 14th to 13th place, tying with New York University.
"We're very pleased that the enhancements to our educational programs have been recognized in this latest rise in rankings," Darden School Dean Robert F. Bruner said. "Our rise in this latest ranking is consistent with changes we've seen for Darden in other rankings for Darden as well. Darden has shown buoyancy among its peers."
The Education School tied with Boston College, achieving a ranking of 19th, while the Medical School placed 25th, up one position from last year. In addition, the Engineering School ranked 38th.
Some of the deans of these schools cited increases in funding, faculty hires and incoming student test scores as possible reasons for the rise in rankings.
The areas that moved up significantly in the Medical School were in total dollars given to the school in grants and in individual and group funding per faculty member, said Arthur Garson Jr., vice president and dean of the Medical School.
"We also had increases in scores in entering students in GPAs and MCATs," he said.
In addition to overall rankings, graduate program rankings often have subcategories, University spokesperson Jeff Hanna said.
"For instance, the U.Va. Law School is tied eighth with Cal-Berkeley and Michigan, but in the international law category, which is part of the law school, it is tied for ninth place with Cal-Berkeley," he said.
According to David Breneman, dean of the Education School, these subcategories often provide the most insight into a program.
Breneman added that the rankings should not necessarily be a barometer for performance measurement in a program.
"I view the rankings as something that is largely out of my control," he said. "I think one of the worst aspects of these rankings is when you start trying to match your sense of what you're doing in order to increase your rankings."
Bruner agreed, noting that rankings are helpful but should not be weighed too heavily.
"I take the rankings seriously, because they influence our ability to attract the best students and the best faculty, and corporate and personal donors, but I keep them in perspective," Bruner said.
Garson added that the rankings are conditional, and do not necessarily reflect a program in its entirety.
"The rankings reflect some of our core capabilities, but not all" of them, he said.
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