Forbes names William & Mary among the best colleges
William & Mary has once again been recognized as one of the nation's top universities by a major publication.
In its latest College guide, "America's Best Colleges," Forbes.com lists William & Mary as the second highest state-supported school in the magazine's ranking of top 50 universities. The College was ranked 46th overall, up two spots from 48th last year.
The new rankings come just weeks after the Princeton Review praised William & Mary's faculty, libraries and undergraduate happiness level in its annual college guidebook. The Review listed William & Mary at 12th in the "Happiest Students" category, up two spots from 14th last year. Additionally, the College ranked eighth in both the "Professors Get High Marks" and "Best College Library" categories. The College's "green rating" also improved, climbing from a 90 last year to a 93 this year.
In January, the College was listed in a regional ranking by Forbes.com as the second-best public and fifth overall among all colleges and universities in the South. That same month, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine named William & Mary as the fourth best value among the country's top 100 "four-year schools that combine outstanding education with economic value." The College has also done very well in the college rankings produced by U.S. News and World Report, which are expected to be published later this month. Last year, William & Mary was named as the sixth-best public university in the country and 33rd overall.
In the Forbes ranking, William & Mary is listed as one of five public universities in the top 50. The first three are military institutions --the U.S. Military Academy (No. 4 overall), U.S. Air Force Academy (No. 11 overall) and the U.S. Naval Academy (No. 29 overall). The only two state-supported universities in the top 50 come from the Commonwealth -- the University of Virginia joined William & Mary on the list and was ranked 44th overall.
The Forbes rankings were compiled with research from the Center for College Affordability & Productivity. According to Forbes, the ranking of more than 600 undergraduate colleges and universities is determined based on "the quality of the education they provide, the experiences of the students and how much they achieve." The rankings are based on five criteria: student satisfaction, postgraduate success, student debt, four-year graduation rate and competitive awards.
