By Keith Pierce
Once again, Â鶹´«Ã½ has been recognized as a top-tier university, according to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report's 2021 Best Colleges rankings released Sept. 14.
Old Dominion remained in the top tier of the nearly 1,500 institutions assessed, and ranked No. 126 among the nation's public universities. Old Dominion also ranked as a top university for social mobility for the second consecutive year.
The Social Mobility ranking measures and ranks an institution's success in graduating students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The annual "Best National University" ranking considers graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rates, alumni giving and peer assessment to rank the Best Colleges.
Two University undergraduate programs were once again highlighted in the annual report:
* Best Undergraduate Business Program
* Best Undergraduate Engineering Program at a Doctoral Institution
The U.S. News rankings come just weeks after the Princeton Review named Â鶹´«Ã½ one of the best colleges in the Southeast and two months after the University was named a world leader in addressing inequality in the 2020 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
"These rankings recognize the University's concerted efforts to increase accessibility and affordability so we can enroll and graduate motivated students from all backgrounds," Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Austin O. Agho said. "I'm also grateful that U.S. News & World Report highlighted our commitment to social mobility for the second year in a row."
To see the complete Best National Universities rankings, visit the U.S. News & World Report .
