The University jumped one spot from last year's standing to tie Georgetown University as the 23rd-ranked university nationwide according to U.S. News & World Report. The University retained its second-place position behind the University of California -- Berkeley as the number-two national public university.
Criteria for the rankings include peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and student admissions selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving, said George Stovall, institutional assessment and studies director at the University.
Stovall explained that peer assessment is based on a survey of students at every university, while faculty resources refers to salaries, class sizes and the student-faculty ratio. Graduation rate performance is a measure of what an instution's graduation rate should be in relation to the actual graduation rate, he said.
Many recently have questioned the criteria for the rankings, arguing that these factors alone cannot determine the quality of a university.
"You can't take something as complex as a research university and put a number on it," Dean of Admissions John Blackburn said. "That's absurd."
For this reason many school officials say they do not concentrate on the ranking.
Board of Visitors member Gordon Rainey said the University does not "pay a lot of attention to the ranking," adding that the Board of Visitors does not "manage" or manipulate policy to improve its ranking.
"The University tries to focus on its core mission, and if it does that efficiently, the ranking will take care of itself," Rainey said.
While the ranking might not affect the Board, prospective students and their parents often pay attention to the annual statistics, Blackburn noted.
"Students and parents say 'Gee, I want to go to a top rated school that's top 25 or 10,'" he said, "Internationally, it's one of the most important things that happens to us. Domestically, I think it does make a difference."
Blackburn said he agrees with critics who claim some of the ranking's criteria can be biased.
"The ranking system doesn't help the public universities," he said, adding that the ranking criteria is "set up in favor of the smaller private universities."
The University has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best or second best national public university since the magazine began conducting the survey. Rainey and Blackburn both pointed out that this is a major accomplishment; Rainey noting that the Board is "particularly proud of that," while according to Blackburn, "it is a little bit of bragging rights."
Overall, Virginia's institutions of higher education did well in the 2008 ranking. Virginia Tech jumped up six spots to 71st for the overall ranking and was placed 29th for public universities.The College of William & Mary fell from 31st to 33rd for the overall ranking and remained in 6th place among public universities.
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