Friday, August 22

GW moved up one place from last year in the annual U.S. News and World Report ranking of the nation’s top universities, according to information released early Friday morning.

Two other schools, Syracuse University and the University of Maryland, share the spot with GW.

The University has consistently placed outside of the top 50 in recent years, coming in at 54th in 2007 and 52nd in 2006. It last surpassed that rank in 1998 when it reached 46th.

“We’re pleased to be ranked 53,” said University Spokesperson Tracy Schario. “It’s always very challenging to move up in the rankings.”

Schario attributed the improvement to recent investments in alumni giving, as well as retention rates and academic quality.

“There’s always a lag time of about five years before investments start to show in the rankings,” Schario said.

In a new feature for this year’s edition, U.S. News and World Report asked guidance counselors from top public high schools to rank universities. The counselors put GW in 34th place along with 11 other national universities.

“To me that says that our recruiting and admissions work have had an impact,” Schario said.

U.S. News and World Report first published its annual survey of colleges in 1983. The magazine bases its list on a number of criteria, including selectivity, class size, annual giving, and a “reputation survey” that measures how different university presidents view the school.