Virginia Commonwealth University is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in 1838 and got merged with Richmond Professional Institute in 1917 to form the present institution. The University has a solid commitment to consistently upgrading research and academic excellence. In the year 2019, it spent about $300 million in sponsored research funding, and got classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities- with very high research activity”. It believes in real-world learning to further civic engagements, creative expressions, and improvement in the quality of human life, that’s propounded in the mission of the University.

  • More than 25 programs of the Virginia Commonwealth University are ranked by US News & World Report as among the best in the country.
  • In the year 2012, one of the centers of the VCU- the Da Vinci Center was recognized as one of the 29 best institutes to offer a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) degree.
  • According to Bloomberg Businessweek and the US News WUR, the School of Business of the Virginia Commonwealth University ranks 51 for the part-time MBA Program and 91st in the best undergraduate business schools in US.
  • It has moved into the top 100 in National Science Foundation Research rankings, and the sustainable program of the University was awarded the Energy Star Certification for meeting strict energy-efficiency levels set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Virginia Commonwealth University Recognition

Affiliations
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
Association of Public and Land grant Universities (APLU)
Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA)
The coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU)
Urban 13/ Great Cities’ Universities (GCU)
National Sea Grant College Program

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings Highlights

The ranking agencies take account of various factors to accredit Virginia Commonwealth University and focus on institutions assessing their performance in each. These factors are usually based on students’ experience, research intensiveness of a college, teaching excellence, citations, and more.

Ranking Agency Ranks
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) (2021) 651-700
US News (2021) 402nd
Times Higher Education (THE) (2021) 390th
ARWU (2020) 201-300
Webometrics 198th
CWUR 2020 206th

Other Major Rankings

  • US News Best Colleges for Veterans: 114th
  • Accredited schools online Best Nurse Practitioner Schools: 4th
  • US News Top Performers in Social Mobility: 80th
  • US News Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs: 118th
  • Stilt top 100 rankings US Physical Therapy Schools: 28th

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings: QS 2021

For the year 2021, the QS world university ranking agency placed the Virginia Commonwealth University in the rank range of 651-700, that after climbing up in the year 2019 & 2020, dipped down again in the 2016-2018 phase. Since the start of the decade, the rankings have dipped from 501-550 best global universities to nearing 700. The parameters on which 2021 ranks are given:

Ranking Parameter Score
Faculty Student 46.2
Citations per Faculty 19.9

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings: US News 2020

For the year 2020, US News & World Report ranked the Virginia Commonwealth University at 402nd in Best Global Universities, with an overall score of 53 out of 100. Given below are certain indicators of the Virginia Commonwealth University for 2020:

Ranking Parameter Rank Weightage
Global Research Reputation 776th 12.5
Regional Research reputation 183rd 12.5
Publications 331st 10
Books 331st 2.5
Conferences 929th 2.5
Normalized Citation Impact 302nd 10
Total Citations 283rd 7.5
Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited 311th 12.5
Percentage of total publication that are among the 10% most cited 398th 10
International Collaboration- Relative to country 1287th 5
International Collaboration 1174th 5
Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited 260th 5
Percentage of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited 290th 5

With these scores, the university received a score of 53.8. This table confers the rich research and publications of the university.

The ranks based on books, citations, and publications are under 500 worldwide, which tells that the university emphasizes academic research, while the university got poor ranks in the international collaboration which is too far away from its counterparts, that will be compared later.

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings: Times Higher Education 2021

For the year 2021, with a score of 50.4, THE ranked Virginia Commonwealth University at 390th rank, up from the previous year. The parameters on which the ranks are allotted are:

Ranking Parameter Score
Resources 13.7
Engagement 15.2
Outcomes 14.7
Environment 6.7

The University touched its best score in the year 2019 when with an overall score of 52.3, it was ranked 358th in the world. The positive side in the trend of a few years is that the University got up from more than 450th rank to under 400 in just 3 years.

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings: CWUR

For the year 2020, the CWUR gave an overall score of 78.6 to the Virginia Commonwealth University, allotting a rank of 206, worldwide. It has used the parameters of Alumni Employment Rank, Quality of Faculty Rank, and Research Performance Rank, garnering the ranks in the world at 983, 74, and 278 respectively. The ratings assure that the University has got an impeccable team of faculties to provide an excellent education to the students.

Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings: Webometrics

Webometrics is an international ranking agency that judges universities based on their research and their overall impact on the world. The Virginia Commonwealth University for the year 2020, is ranked 198th in the world, and 107th in the European region, while in the USA, it ranks in the top 100 best institutes in research. It procured 95th rank in 2020. The agency takes into account research into different topics like social science, technical science, etc. The parameters on which the University is ranked are:

Parameter Rank
Presence 929th
Impact 149th
Openness 237th
Excellence 306th

The major goal of the agency is to give a clear picture of the research ability of the institute. The VCU although has a presence rank of 929 in the world, the impact that its research makes is under 150 best universities worldwide, which shows the assertive and useful research pedagogy of the University.

Virginia Commonwealth University National Rankings

Ranking Agency Ranks
QS 82nd
THE 160th
Forbes 447th
CWUR 76th

In the QS rankings, the university scored 49.7 acquiring the rank of 82nd in the US universities. US News ranked the VCU at the 77th in the Top Public Schools of the US, while 105th in the Best Value Schools.

Virginia Commonwealth University Subject Rankings

US News ranked 24 subjects into top-50 programs in the USA. The engineering department of the university was ranked 125th in the world, while another- Nursing School was ranked 33rd. According to the QS WUR by Subject Rankings, the university was ranked in the range of 151-200 globally.

The Art program of VCU is the most popular program of the Virginia Commonwealth University. VCUArts is the only public university art and design school in the US to get such a reputation. New York Times called it “that rare public research institution that has put the arts front and center”.

Subjects US News QS
Cell Biology 241st 501-550
Chemistry 612th 501-550
Clinical Medicine 200th -
Nuclear Engineering 18th (National) -
Pharmacy 20th (National) 151-200
Social Work 25th (National) 151-200
Public Affairs 45th (National) 151-200
Biology & Biochemistry 368th 501-550
Material Science 453rd -
Neuroscience 185th -
Surgery 84th 251-300
Social Science 218th 151-200
Psychology 148th 251-300
Pharmacology 107th 151-200

Virginia Commonwealth University: Top 10 Subject Rankings

As per US News & World Report:

  • Fine Arts- Sculpture: 1st
  • Nursing Anesthesia: 1st
  • Fine Arts: 4th
  • Fine Arts- Graphic Design: 4th
  • Rehabilitation Counseling: 4th
  • Health Care Management: 5th
  • Time-based New Media: 5th

Online Program Ranking of the Virginia Commonwealth University (US News)

  • Best Online Master’s in Education Program: 8th
  • Best Online MBA Programs: 35th
  • Best Online Master’s in Nursing Programs: 45th
  • Best Online Master’s in Nursing Administration Programs: 12th
  • Best Online Master’s in Engineering Programs: 51st

Virginia Commonwealth University vs Other US Universities: Comparison

Mentioned below is the comparison between Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University and University of Virginia.

University Virginia Commonwealth University James Madison University University of Virginia
Rank in USA (QS) 82nd 251-300 50th
Status Public Public Public
Established in 1838 1908 1819
International Students 1,200+ 450+ 2300+
Popular Programs Visual and Performing Art, Business, Management, Marketing, Psychology, and Education Health, Business Management, Marketing, Communication, Journalism, Social Science, General Studies and Humanities Economics, Biology/ Biological Science, Business/ Commerce, International Relations and Affairs, and Psychology
Employer Reputation - - 42.4
Citations per Faculty 19.9 - 38.5
Faculty Student Rank (QS) 46.2 - 61.4

Apart from education, the university supports a healthy diversity of multilingual and multi-ethnic population into the university. It is recognized as the Top 10 institution for minority students, and Forbes ranked Virginia Commonwealth University as Virginia’s best employer for diversity.