State of the School: A Quick Look at William & Mary Metrics

Colleges are routinely rated by a number of studies and rankings. U.S. News and World Report, arguably the most prominent source for college rankings, put the College of William and Mary at #54 in National Universities this year. Peerawut Ruangsawasdi ’26 explores other changes within the College that may have a measurable effect on its national reputation.

The College has been the subject of numerous studies and rankings this year. U.S. News and World Report, for instance, put the College at #54 in National Universities this year, marking a one spot decline from last year’s ranking of #53. But apart from this, what are some other metrics the College is facing recently? How is the College trying to improve its national profile?

For starters, the College is facing some significant changes this year. Over the summer, Jane Batten HON ’17, L.H.D. ’19 donated a historic $100 million to establish the Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences. This move comes as the College prepares for the establishment of an undergraduate marine science major.

On the other hand, the College is also ramping up its new school of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics. The move was approved by the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia in July 2024. 

“I appreciate SCHEV’s shared commitment to preparing broadly educated, forward-thinking citizens and professionals,” College President Katherine A. Rowe said in a W&M News piece. “The jobs of tomorrow belong to those prepared to solve tomorrow’s problems. Machine learning, AI, computational modeling — these are essential modes of critical thinking and core to a liberal arts education in the 21st century.”

As a part of that effort, the College added a new dean to the roster. Douglas C. Schmidt ’84, M.A. ’86 was announced in October 2024 as the first dean of the new school. Schmidt serves as a senior advisor at the United States Department of Defense and was associate chair of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University.

While many find appeal in the College’s relatively small size and emphasis on the humanities, recent institutional actions have trended in other ways. For example, in its final report, the steering committee tasked with studying options for the new CDSAS school published its final report in June 2023. In it, the committee, chaired by the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Suzanne Raitt, described students expressing concerns over how the new school would impact classes in the humanities.

“Students are concerned about how the creation of a new school will change their overall experience at W&M (including tuition, class offerings, and access to CS/DS/AS courses by the general student population, and course offerings in other departments in the humanities and social sciences),” the committee wrote.

Regardless, the committee concluded that most faculty members were excited for the move,   believing it would attract more distinguished faculty, attract external funding for research, and improve the College’s national profile. The committee described, though, a desire for the new school to provide ways for students and faculty to interact with it in multidisciplinary ways. 

These are just some ways that the College is looking to improve its national profile and elevate its standing. A part of this profile deals with branding, too. Many students refer to the College as “the College,” including The Flat Hat and Flat Hat Magazine. The College’s branding guidelines, however, require employees to refer to the institution as a “university.”

“Our status as a university materialized just three years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence; I don’t feel particularly compelled to start changing how I reference the College when we’ve been making things work just fine since then,” wrote Ethan Brow, former editor-in-chief of The Flat Hat.

Ever since 1996, the College has had a general downward trend in terms of rankings. Despite some improvements, the College’s rankings overall are down.

“Rankings matter because people we care about — prospective students and alumni — care about them,” wrote the College in a document titled “BOV Rankings Deep Dive.” “For this reason, analysis of rankings formulas is a routine part of W&M leadership’s work as we steward the university’s reputation and scan our competitive environment.”

One last set of changes that deserves your attention this year are those being made in terms of student restorative practices and student expressions. For example, the College eliminated the Dean of Students’s Office, revamped the Appeals Board process, and revised the Student Code of Conduct. The changes also include a slightly more detailed description of disruptive behaviors such as an added section regarding guest speakers at the College.

“Attempting by physical force to cancel or discontinue speech by any speaker, or the obstruction of speech by any person intending to see or hear a speaker,” the new handbook states.

The move comes amidst colleges around Virginia and the country making similar changes at their institutions, which advocates and others describe as unprecedented. 2024 is truly a year of change for the College and the country. Let’s see where that takes the nation’s alma mater.