About A&S

The College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is the largest of the University of Virginia’s 11 schools and is the institution’s intellectual core. Offering more than 50 undergraduate majors and concentrations and more than two dozen graduate programs, Arts & Sciences spans the liberal arts, stretching from the study of the birth of the universe to the latest scientific and technological advances and encompassing the literatures and languages, history and arts, economics and politics of the world's cultures. The College and Graduate School comprise more than 10,000 students and more than 750 faculty members.

The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

When he wrote about a “broad and liberal and modern” education, Thomas Jefferson could have been describing our goal here in the College: to provide students with the general knowledge and intellectual skills that allow them to become engaged citizens, versatile workers and creative decision makers.

Our students pursue specialties within their majors, but the walls between traditional majors are increasingly breaking down as interdisciplinary programs attract more people every year. An Arts & Sciences education should prepare a student to travel any road.

Multidisciplinary Majors

Students come to the University of Virginia with extremely high expectations — both of themselves and of this institution. In response, the University has introduced educational programs that reflect the emergence of new areas of study that tap into the strengths of our faculty and involve multiple disciplines.

Ex.1: Human Biology Major

An example is the interdisciplinary major program in Human Biology, which takes advantage of the University’s outstanding faculty in law, medicine, bioethics, public health, health policy and health evaluation.

Ex.2: Political Philosophy, Policy and Law Major

Likewise, the major in Political Philosophy, Policy and Law combines courses in history, economics, philosophy, law, politics and foreign affairs.

Ex.3: Computer Science Major

Arts & Sciences undergraduates now can pursue an interdisciplinary bachelor of arts degree in computer science that differs from the bachelor of science degree offered in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The major is the first to combine academic programming of the two schools.

Rankings

U.S. News & World Report Rankings

The University of Virginia continues to excel in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings. In August 2009,U.S. News & World Report’s latest (undergraduate) college rankings placed the University of Virginia as the:

• nation’s #2 public university (tied with UCLA)
• 24th (tied with UCLA) among all (248) national universities.

Since U.S. News began a separate listing of the top 50 public universities in 1998, University of Virginia has never been lower than No. 2. In the 20-year history of the rankings, UVa has never dropped out of the top 25 listing.

Princeton Review Ranks U.Va. Among the Best Colleges

The Princeton Review continued to give high rankings to the University of Virginia in its 2009 "The Best 368 Colleges" guide, which is based on student surveys. The Princeton Review ranked U.Va. fourth in its list of best-value public undergraduate colleges, which is based on a variety of factors, including academics, cost and financial aid. U.Va. also received top recognition in the categories:

• Best Career/Job Placement Services (No. 9)
• Best College Library (No. 19)
• Best Southeastern Colleges

U.Va. Obtains a Top Spot for Enrolling Highest Percentage of Black Students in the First-year Classes

January 2008 — The University of Virginia and Columbia University have tied in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education's statistical ranking for enrolling the highest percentage of black students in their first-year classes of the nation's highest-ranked Universities and liberal arts colleges.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine Recognizes U.Va. Among Top-Value Colleges

January 2008 — Based on the quality of both its academic and financial aid offerings, the University of Virginia ranks third among more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities across the nation for "best value," according to an annual ranking by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. More.

U.Va. Leads Public Universities with Highest African-American Graduation Rate

April 2008 — For the 14th straight year, the University of Virginia's African-American students posted the highest graduation rate among those at all public universities in the nation, according to the annual compilation published by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE). The journal reports that U.Va.'s graduation rate of 87 percent makes it “the leader by far in successfully graduating black students” at flagship state universities. Read more.

Black Enterprise Magazine Names U.Va. to List of “50 Top Colleges for African Americans”

In the September 2008 issue of Black Enterprise magazine, U.Va. again made the list of the 50 Top Colleges for African Americans. Read more.

U.Va. Ranks No. 1 by the Center for College Affordability & Productivity, According to Forbes Magazine

May 2008 — Forbes published a listing that ranked U.Va. No. 1 among national public universities by the Center for College Affordability & Productivity, a research organization in Washington, D.C. that evaluates colleges based on results.

Peace Corps Rates U.Va. No. 1

January 2008 — The University of Virginia tops the list of medium-sized colleges and universities that produced the most Peace Corps volunteers in 2007. After slipping to second place in the ranking last year, U.Va. regained the top spot among medium-sized institutions with an undergraduate enrollment of between 5,001 and 15,000 students. Last year, 72 U.Va. graduates made the 27-month commitment to serve in the corps, slightly more than George Washington University’s total of 66.