The University of Mary Washington is listed among Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” for 2009.
The university is ranked 23rd when using in-state tuition costs to calculate the listing. UMW also was named the 16th “best value” when comparing out-of-state tuition costs. The list can be found in the December issue of the magazine.
The magazine ranks schools on their combined academic excellence and affordability, with more emphasis placed on academics. Of the 500 schools evaluated, the list is narrowed to 120 based on several measures of academic quality – including the percentage of the 2008–09 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT (or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT), admission and retention rates, student/faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates. Each school also is ranked on cost and financial aid, including out-of-state numbers.
Other Virginia schools on the in-state “best value” list include the University of Virginia (3rd), the College of William and Mary (5th), Virginia Tech (15th), James Madison University (28nd) and George Mason University (46th).
In recent years, the University of Mary Washington has seen its academic reputation gain national recognition through consistently high rankings in several selective college guidebooks including U.S. News & World Report, The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges and Universities.