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After being ranked the #1 Regional University in the North by US News and World Report for the past twenty-three years, Villanova University has moved to the national classification for the first time in 2016. The result is sure to please many alumni.
On Tuesday, US News released their newest list of national rankings based on the the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Villanova landed at the 50th spot on the list — tied with Penn State, Pepperdine and Florida.
Back in February, University President Fr Peter Donohue, OSA told the community,
The top of the list sees Princeton, Harvard, University of Chicago, Yale, and Columbia, respectively, in the top-5. In terms of Big East competitors, Georgetown came in at #20, Marquette at #86 (tied with Lacrosse-only member, Denver), Seton Hall at #118, DePaul at #124 and St. John’s at #164. Fellow Catholic schools Notre Dame, Boston College, Fordham and Saint Louis checked in at 15, 31, 60 and 96th, respectively.
Providence College takes over the #1 slot among Northeastern Regional Universities that Villanova vacated this year. Big 5 rivals St. Joseph’s came in at #11 in that region, with La Salle behind them at #35.
Villanova was also ranked in a few special categories, tying for #29 among the Best Colleges for Veterans, #42 for High School Counselor Rankings, #63 for Business Programs, and #91 for Engineering Programs (doctorate).
Comparing to other schools on Nova’s hoops schedule UPenn was ranked #8, Virginia landed at #24 and Temple landed at #118.
A number of CAA Football schools also made the list: The College of William & Mary checked in at #32, Delaware at #79, Stony Brook at #96, New Hampshire at #107, Albany at #146, URI at #159, and Maine at #183. Elon checks in as the top Southern Regional University, followed by James Madison at #8, while Towson ranked #51 among regional schools in the North. This past weekend’s football opponent Lehigh ranked #44 among National Universities.
The data used to compile this year’s ranking won’t necessarily show any admissions impact from the National Championship win, since that data will often lag by a year or two. An improvement in selectivity — Nova is currently rated “more selective” with a 48% acceptance rate — could boost the school in the next few years.
This honor and spot on the ranking cements the 2016 Calendar Year as one of the best in the University’s 174 year history.