LEXINGTON, Va., Aug. 27, 2019—Virginia Military Institute is ranked 22^nd nationwide in the liberal arts colleges category in the recently released 2019 Washington Monthly college rankings.

It’s the Institute’s highest placement ever by Washington Monthly, and a substantial jump from last year’s ranking of 39^th. The only Virginia school ranked higher was neighboring Washington & Lee University, which was ranked 1^st.

VMI was ranked 44^th in Washington Monthly’s Best Bang for the Buck southeast region rankings, a category designed to recognize schools that help Pell Grant recipients earn bachelor’s degrees.

Within the social mobility category for liberal arts colleges, VMI is ranked 11^th. Placement in that category is determined by the net price paid by a student from a family earning less than $75,00 per year. The Institute is also ranked No. 1 for ROTC participation.

VMI is also included in a category new to Washington Monthly this year: best 80 colleges for student voting. Inclusion in this category is based on a variety of factors, among them submitting an action plan sponsored by the Campus Democracy Challenge, a nonpartisan group dedicated to encouraging civic engagement by young voters, and signing up to receive data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, which is sponsored by Tufts University.

Washington Monthly’s college rankings, which include over 1,700 institutions of higher learning nationwide and 214 liberal arts colleges, are designed to recognize an institution’s commitment to social mobility, research, and public service.

In other recently released rankings, VMI was ranked No. 1 in Virginia, and 25^th nationwide, in SmartAsset’s fifth annual best value colleges list. With an average starting salary of $63,900 for its graduates, the Institute topped the best value and starting salary categories for Virginia and placed second behind Mary Baldwin University for student living costs.

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