UMW Receives National ‘Public Good’ Ranking

Less than two weeks into its fall semester, the University of Mary Washington has received a nationwide ranking that speaks to the heart of its mission.

Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide and Rankings placed UMW 24th among Top Master’s Universities and 21st in the Best Bang for the Buck Southeast Colleges category.

“We rate schools based on what they do for the country” and the public good, states an intro to the 2020 rankings, which rate four-year schools on factors such as social mobility, research, public service and activism.

The guide’s Best Bang for the Buck category evaluates colleges on their success at recruiting and graduating non-wealthy students, and their ability to provide marketable degrees at affordable prices.

“The question we’re asking … is this,” Washington Monthly magazine editors Paul Glastris and Grace Gedye write. “Which colleges deliver the best results for taxpayers – who invest more than $150 billion annually in student financial aid – and for typical students, especially those who are minorities, the first in their family to attend college, or of modest means?”

This year’s standings, announced Monday, nudge UMW up eight spots from 2019 in the Top Master’s Universities category, in which only one other Virginia school made the top 25. Mary Washington also moved up 18 spots in the Best Bang for the Buck section.

“Of all college rankings, I think this is the one that best fits our mission and aspirations … a ranking built on service and social uplift,” said UMW President Troy Paino.

Produced since 2005, Washington Monthly’s College Guide and Rankings publication bills itself as a “socially conscious alternative” to other such listings. The distinction is paramount at this time, the guide states, with inequalities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased focus on racial injustice across the nation.

Visit the UMW National Rankings page for a list of current standings.