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?” Read more.

The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of more than 5,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers.