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Virginia Wesleyan Named Among U.S. News 'Best Colleges'
The University is recognized in three categories of the publication's 2020 rankings
University News | September 9, 2019
Â鶹´«Ã½rtb has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report in three categories of its 2020 Best Colleges rankings, released September 9. The University is ranked 23rd in “Ethnic Diversity” among National Liberal Arts Colleges and is featured among U.S. News’ "Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.” New this year, VWU is also recognized as a “Top Performer on Social Mobility.”
This is the third consecutive year Virginia Wesleyan has been ranked among the top 25 most ethnically diverse National Liberal Arts Colleges. To identify colleges where students are most likely to encounter undergraduates from a different ethnic group from their own, U.S. News factored in the proportion of minority students—leaving out international students—and the overall mix of groups in each institution’s 2018-2019 academic year student body. The categories used in the calculations are African-American (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, White (non-Hispanic), and multiracial (two or more races). The largest ethnic group at Virginia Wesleyan is African-American, representing 24 percent of the University’s student population.
“We are proud to hold this designation, as it represents the diverse, global community in which our University is located,” says Â鶹´«Ã½rtb President Scott D. Miller. “We are a welcoming, inclusive campus with an outstanding, nationally prominent academic reputation—and we take pride in fostering the kinds of values and traditions that make our students proud to have chosen us for their career and life success.”
U.S. News also classifies Â鶹´«Ã½rtb among its “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges.” Methodology for these rankings focuses on academic excellence, with schools evaluated on hundreds of data points and up to 15 measures of academic quality. Overall, the rankings emphasize student outcomes—such as graduation and freshman retention rates—which carry the most weight at 30 percent. The top National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges have significantly higher graduation and freshman retention rates than other schools.
New to the rankings this year, U.S. News has recognized institutions as “Top Performers on Social Mobility.” Virginia Wesleyan is ranked among the top 25 percent of National Liberal Arts Colleges in this category, which measures how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants relative to the rest of the student body.
U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges rankings help prospective students and their families research more than 1,800 U.S.-based colleges and universities.