University of Mary Washington Ranks As Most Underrated College

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The University of Mary Washington lacks huge brand recognition but employs a roster of top-notch professors and offers a high-quality academic environment for its students. For these reasons and other metrics, UMW topped a new list of the most underrated colleges in the country.

Released by Great Value Colleges (GVC), the list highlights schools that stand out for what they offer in higher education, but whose size and other factors can preclude them from rising to the top of big-name national rankings. The title of the ranking was "America's 50 Most Underrated Colleges: These Incredible Colleges Are Often Overlooked On National Ranking Lists."

UMW was ranked the most underrated college, with Ithaca College in New York, Yeshiva University in New York City, Santa Clara University in California, and St. Olaf College in Minnesota rounding out the top five. Virginia Tech, which came in 19th place, was the only other Virginia school to make the top 50 list.

"One of the problems with lists that rank colleges as a whole and not on their individual areas of excellence is that some colleges are always underrepresented. This list aims to correct that," GVC said in its report. "None of the colleges on this list are Ivy League institutions, but they all are able to say that they're outperforming Ivy League colleges in some areas."

Though UMW doesn't make the top 50 of any of the general best college lists, according to GVC, it has an impressive statistic that many institutions on those lists can't hope to match: an 87-percent four-year graduation rate.

Eight UMW faculty members have won Fulbright Awards, and 86 percent of faculty members have a doctorate or an equivalent level of degree. In another metric that makes UMW stand out among lesser-known schools, the university also gives out $41 million in financial assistance every year.

In a news release, UMW noted that it ranked higher in the survey than such schools as Virginia Tech, Elon, Rutgers, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of California San Francisco, Florida Institute of Technology and George Washington University.

For the ranking, GVC found several popular lists of the best colleges in the country and then disqualified any college that appears in the top 50 of any of those lists. It then researched other colleges that have strong graduation rates, generous financial aid opportunities, top professors and wide-ranging graduate prospects. Lastly, it looked for the things that make them stand out that could feasibly make them more desirable for potential students than any of the top colleges on the popular top college lists.

"There's a proliferation of educational opportunities today," GVC Editor Julie McCaulley said in a statement. "With today's emphasis on brand recognition, it's easy for high-quality colleges to get lost in the shuffle. We wanted to shine a well-deserved spotlight on some of the institutions that are providing excellence in academics and unique opportunities to their students."

UMW also landed last week in the No. 2 spot on Affordable Schools' list of Virginia's best 20 schools for bachelor's degrees. That list recognized Mary Washington as a top-value choice, citing its proximity to Washington, D.C., unique degree programs and features such as the Hurley Convergence Center and UMW Galleries' 5,000-piece art collection. UMW also has landed spots in top 2020 publications, including Fiske Guide to Colleges, U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review.