VMI is ranked number one in the country for ROTC participation among national liberal arts colleges. -- VMI Photo by John Robertson IV.

LEXINGTON, Va., Sept. 2, 2016 – Virginia Military Institute is ranked 51^st among national liberal arts colleges, and number one within that category for ROTC participation, in rankings released this week by Washington Monthly magazine. The Institute is also ranked 45^th in the “Best Bang for the Buck” category in the Southeast region. 

Washington Monthly bases its rankings on three factors: social mobility, research, and service. Specifically, the publication attempts to measure the benefit to society that institutions create when they admit students from non-wealthy families, educate them well, and encourage those students to pursue lives of public service once they graduate.

Because of this focus on the social good, Washington Monthly puts much emphasis on statistics such as the percentage of first-generation college students, the percentage of Pell Grant recipients, an institution’s student loan repayment rate, and graduates’ median earnings 10 years after graduation.

In the national liberal arts category, Washington Monthly reports that VMI has a net price of just under $10,000 per year for families earning less than $75,000 per year. Sixteen percent of the Corps of Cadets receives the federal Pell Grant, according to Washington Monthly, and 17 percent are first-generation college students. The publication reports VMI’s student loan repayment rate as 95 percent, and the median earnings of alumni 10 years after graduation as $59,900.

Virginia schools ranked in the national liberal arts category include Washington and Lee University, 7^th; University of Richmond, 25^th; and Mary Baldwin University, 36^th.

Washington Monthly’s “Best Bang for the Buck” category attempts to identify colleges and universities that do the best job of enabling students of modest means to get a marketable degree at an affordable price. The publication lists the average net price of a VMI education as $16,233 per year.

Other Virginia colleges and universities in the “Best Bang for the Buck” in the Southeast region include Washington and Lee University, 3^rd; James Madison University, 13^th; University of Richmond, 22^nd; University of Virginia, 42^nd; and Virginia Tech, 44^th.

-VMI-