For the 15th 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.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.
Admissions :
High preference among high achievers
Admission to the University of Virginia is very competitive. A December 2005 National Bureau of Economic Research study of "high-achieving"undergraduate applicants found U-Va., at twentieth overall,to be the most preferred college located in the state of Virginia.some twenty-three spots ahead of Washington and Lee University,and the second most preferred in the American South,just one spot behind Duke University. The study also revealed the University to be most preferred public university in the entire United States,placing five spots above both the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California,Berkeley. The stated purpose of the NBER study was to produce a ranking system that "would be difficult for a college to manipulate" by basing it on the actual demonstrated preferences of highly meritorious students.
The University of Virginia places#1 among state-supported universities in the United States in the production of Rhodes Scholars.It's most recent winners were two awarded in 2oo4,bringing it to a cumulative total of 45.
Tuition is lower for both in-state and out-of state students than most other top universities. The student composition of the University is such that it was described in a feature article in the 2006 America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report as being "chock full of academic stars who turn down private schools like Duke,Princeton, and Cornell for, they say,a better value. Indeed,in 2008 the center for College Affordability and Productivity named the University of Virginia the Top value among all national public colleges and Universities in the United States in a separate by USA Today and the Princeton Review.
Much of the consistent academic success of the Black students at UVa is directly attributable to it's Nationally recognized "Peer Advisor Program headed by the dynamic Dean Sylvia Terry.
The American Association of University Administration and the John Templeton Foundation have recognized the Peer Advisor Program as "exemplary" in achieving campus diversity" and exemplary"for character development".
How Does The Peer Advisor Program Work
The Office of African American Affairs Assign each entering Black student with an upperclassman,a "Big Brother" or Big Sister," who serves as a resource throughout the academic year. The parings are based on academic and extracurricular interests. For example,Engineering students are matched with Engineering Peer Advisor,Architecture with Architecture,Education with Education,etc.Peer Advisers.
The typical UVa Black student is a highly motivated success driven individual who's grand parents may have graduated from one of the HBCU's,and the vast majority of their parents are college graduates.
The University of Virginia is one of a handful of schools in the country that has been able to provide&offer outstanding academics coupled with excellence in Athletics.
The University Of Virginia is located in Charlottesville,which was ranked the best the best place to live in the United States(2004) in the Book Cities Ranked and rated by Bert Sperling&Peter Sander. Sperling and Sander ranked the Cities based on Cost of Living,climate and quality of life.
Charlottesville is best known as the home of three great U.S. Presidents(Thomas Jefferson,James Madison, and James Monroe). The city is also known for Jefferson's Monticello,his renowned Mountain-top home which attracts approximately half million tourists every year. The University of Virginia is the idea place to study&learn in an environment that is conducive to human growth and development surrounded by the Southwest and Blue Ridge Mountains in the scenic Shenandoah Valley.
I have visited at least fifty Colleges and Universities such as Dartmouth,Notre Dame,U.Georgia,Purdue, Grove City,U.Maine, WVU,Davis Elkins,Westminster,Emerson College,Tri-St.U. in Angola,Indiana, Allegheny College, St.Vincents, Ohio State, and many more. But UVA is by far the most tranquil,peaceful,scenic,historic,and picturesque of the schools I visited.
So how could anyone with a modicum of intelligence select an inner city brick campus over a school like UVA located in America's most livable city(Charlottesville,Virginia)?
The University of Virginia was the only school in the country that had two African American female alumnae as candidates on President Obama's short list of candidates for the high court. They are as follows: Met Life Chief Litigation Counsel, Teresa Wynn Roseborough who earned her B.A. from UVA in 1980 and Leah Ward Sears, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia who received her J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 1980 and received her LL.M. degree from University of Virginia School of Law in 1995. The J.D. is the first professional doctorate in law. The LL.M. is a Master of Law which can be obtained in a particular specialty for more depth after obtaining the J.D. Very few practicing attorneys have an LL.M. More importantly, none of the present nine Supreme Court Justices has an LL.M. degree. Jusitces Breyer, Ginsburg and Kennedy have LL.B. degrees and the other six Justices have J.D. degrees. Chief Justice Sears earned her LL.M. degree 15 years after having obtained her J.D. which reveals how much drive, determination, discipline and intestinal fortitude she had in being the best legal counselor in her field. Justice Sears was my first choice for nomination to the United States Supreme Court.
*Another UVA grad who was under consideration for the High Court was the highly distinguished Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, who graduated from the University School of Law in 1983.
Malcom X said: "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow only belongs to the people who prepare for it today".
The African American students, the African Caribbean students, Blacks from the Continent of Africa and Blacks elsewhere in the Diaspora at UVA have done a yeoman outstanding job of preparing for a very bright future.
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