Several University officials remain optimistic about the quality of a University education despite the school's recent slip to the number two spot in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of public colleges and universities.
The magazine released its 2002 edition of "America's Best Colleges" Thursday, placing the University second behind the University of California-Berkeley in its top public university category. After sharing the number one spot with Berkeley in 1998, the University came in second in 1999, only to tie with Berkeley yet again last year.
The report and its aftermath have faculty and students alike talking about the University's demotion.
"Of course it is disappointing to see us number two, but I'm certain we will be back as number one in the next year or so," Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said.
As for the overall national university rankings, which include both public and private colleges, the University came in at 21, losing its number 20 spot to Berkeley.
Even so, some faculty members maintain that the rankings are not a concern because numbers alone do not tell the whole story.
"I don't think we've fallen at all," Engineering School Dean Richard M. Miksad said. "Berkeley received an overall score of 82 and U.Va. 81."
The rankings assign each school a score of 1 through 100, which is based on categories such as academic reputation, graduation and retention rates and faculty resources.
Miksad said students have to weigh the numbers for themselves.
"We're pretty darn good company to be in," he added.
University President John T. Casteen III said the rankings should not mean a great deal to the University.
"To be high in the list is important to many people, but the specific placement in the list usually seems not to be a major issue," Casteen wrote in an e-mail interview.
The reason for the concern is the financial realities behind the rankings, not the rankings themselves, he wrote.
"The alarming thing is the growing spread between the University's academic resources and those available to others, including UC-Berkeley," he wrote.
After the nationwide budget cuts on college campuses in the early 1990s, state support was restored to universities such as Berkeley, but not to as full an extent at the University.
In order to keep up with the funding of other public institutions, "either the state has to restore the money that was taken away in 1990-1991, or we have to run a second massive capital campaign beginning in about three years, or both," Casteen wrote.
The number of applications the admissions office receives does not fluctuate with changes in the annual rankings, Blackburn said.
"People do really pay attention to the rankings," he said. "I do not believe, however, that the difference of one position has much impact on the final decision a student makes."
Indeed, some University students said that while they are interested in where their school stands, the reports did not directly affect their college decisions.
"The rankings didn't play a part in my decision, but they are fun to look at," first-year College student Maria Agapis said.
Second-year College student Philip Anastasi agreed that school spirit will not disappear with the fall to a number two spot in the rankings. "What does it matter if we're number one or number two?" Anastasi said.
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