Rankings are a headache. One year your dream school is at the top of the world, and the next, it’s slipped ten spots because some editor in Washington decided to change a math formula. If you’ve been looking at the william and mary us news data lately, you might be scratching your head.
Wait, did the school get worse? Nope. Not even a little bit.
In fact, William & Mary (W&M) is currently sitting at #51 among National Universities for the 2026 cycle. That’s a slight climb from the previous year’s #54, but it’s still a far cry from the top-35 status the "Alma Mater of the Nation" enjoyed for decades.
Honestly, the "drop" in recent years has more to do with U.S. News changing the rules of the game than W&M losing its edge. Basically, the magazine decided to stop caring as much about things W&M is famous for—like tiny class sizes and high alumni giving rates—and started focusing heavily on social mobility and Pell Grant graduation rates.
The Reality Behind the William and Mary US News Ranking
If you’re a student or a parent, you probably care about two things: Is the teaching good, and will this degree get me a job?
U.S. News actually agrees on the teaching part. W&M is ranked #2 in the nation for Undergraduate Teaching among public universities. That is huge. It means the professors there actually like to teach, rather than just hiding in a lab or writing books all day.
But why the overall rank of #51?
✨ Don't miss: Who Is More Likely to Win the Election 2024: What Most People Get Wrong
It's a numbers game. In 2024, U.S. News stripped away metrics like "class size" and "high school standing." For a mid-sized school like W&M—which prides itself on 13:1 student-to-faculty ratios—this was like a basketball team suddenly being told that 3-pointers don't count anymore.
W&M is small for a public school. With roughly 6,500 undergraduates, it feels more like a private liberal arts college (think Amherst or Williams) than a massive state flagship like Ohio State or Michigan. But because it’s a public school, it gets compared to those giants in the "National Universities" category.
What People Get Wrong About the "Social Mobility" Factor
The biggest hit to the william and mary us news standing came from the social mobility metric. U.S. News now gives massive weight to how many Pell Grant students a school enrolls and graduates.
W&M has historically struggled here. It’s one of the most expensive in-state public schools in the country. Because of Virginia's funding model, W&M has often relied on tuition from out-of-state students to keep the lights on, which meant fewer spots for lower-income applicants compared to a school like UC Riverside or Florida International.
The administration isn't just sitting around, though. They recently announced a "Pell Grant Guarantee," promising to cover the full cost of tuition and fees for all in-state students who qualify for Pell Grants. They’re trying to move the needle, but these things take years to show up in the data.
Is the Tribe Still "Elite"?
Let's look at the stats that actually matter for your life after graduation.
🔗 Read more: Air Pollution Index Delhi: What Most People Get Wrong
- 92% of graduates are employed or in grad school within six months.
- The median starting salary for recent grads is around $64,890, which is significantly higher than the national average for public university alumni.
- They are a top producer of Fulbright scholars—a title they’ve held for 15 years straight.
If you want to go into law, international relations, or data science, the "brand name" of William & Mary carries way more weight than a #51 ranking suggests. Ask any hiring manager in D.C. or on Wall Street; they know W&M. They know the workload is brutal. They know the students are "quirky" but incredibly smart.
The New Ivies and Hidden Gems
Interestingly, while U.S. News was pushing W&M down the list, Forbes went the other way. They recently named William & Mary one of the "New Ivies." Why the discrepancy?
Forbes looked at what employers want. They surveyed hiring managers who said they are tired of the drama at some Ivy League schools and want "smart, hard-working, and collaborative" graduates. W&M fits that bill perfectly.
The university is also expanding. They just opened the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics—the first new school at W&M in over 50 years. They are leaning hard into STEM while keeping their "Colonial Williamsburg" vibes.
The Problem With "Score Compression"
Provost Peggy Agouris and President Katherine Rowe have been pretty vocal about why the rankings are weird right now. They talk about "score compression."
Essentially, the schools ranked between #30 and #60 are separated by tiny fractions of a point. A school could improve its graduation rate and its reputation score but still drop five spots because three other schools did it just a tiny bit faster.
💡 You might also like: Why Trump's West Point Speech Still Matters Years Later
It’s like a 100-meter dash where the difference between gold and 5th place is 0.1 seconds. Does that mean the 5th place runner is slow? No. It just means the field is crowded.
Acceptance Rates and Selectivity
Don't let the #51 rank fool you into thinking it's easy to get in. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was around 37%.
Compare that to other schools in the #50 range. Many have acceptance rates closer to 50% or 60%. W&M is still incredibly selective. The middle 50% SAT range is 1390–1520. These are high-achieving kids who could often get into "Top 20" schools but choose W&M for the community and the history.
Actionable Insights: Should You Apply?
If you are looking at the william and mary us news rankings to decide your future, you need to look past the "National University" number and check the sub-categories.
- Check the "Best Value" list. W&M often ranks high here because of the long-term ROI, especially for in-state students.
- Look at the "Undergraduate Research" rankings. W&M is one of the few places where a freshman can actually work in a lab or on a major policy paper with a world-renowned professor.
- Visit the campus. Rankings can’t tell you that the Sunken Garden is beautiful or that the "Tribe" culture is supportive rather than cutthroat.
Basically, if you want a massive football culture and 500-person lecture halls, W&M is going to be a bad fit, regardless of its rank. But if you want a school that feels like a private elite college at a public school price point (if you're in-state), the current rank of #51 is actually a "buy low" opportunity.
The school isn't changing; the ruler used to measure it is.
Next Steps for Prospective Families:
Review the Common Data Set for William & Mary rather than just the U.S. News summary. This gives you the raw numbers on GPA, test scores, and financial aid without the magazine's "weighting" filters. If your student thrives in small environments where they can't hide in the back of the room, the #2 ranking in Undergraduate Teaching is the only number that really matters.