VCU ranks among top American research universities

Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked among the top American research universities, according to the Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance.

The study, now in its fifth year, compares American private and public universities that spend more than $20 million annually in federal research funds. The study classifies universities into groups based upon nine performance indicators. When all of the measures are combined, VCU is one of 32 public institutions that ranks 26 – 50 on at least one of the measures.

Among public institutions, VCU ranks in the top 100 on eight of the nine measures. Among both public and private institutions, VCU ranks in the top 101 on four of the nine measures.

“This is yet another endorsement of VCU’s stature as one of the country’s top research universities,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani. “It also speaks to the quality of our faculty and the educational experience provided to our students.”

The Lombardi program determines the Top American Research Universities by rank on nine criteria: total research and development expenditures, federally sponsored research and development, endowments and annual giving, the number of members of the National Academies, significant faculty awards, doctorates awarded, postdoctoral appointees and median SAT scores. The report is based on 2002 and 2003 data, depending on the category.

VCU ranks 49th in postdoctoral appointees. The university ranks in the top 100 public universities in total research expenditures, federally funded research, endowment assets, annual giving, National Academies members, faculty awards and doctorates granted (see table below).

“Until reliable, standard measures appear for many of the quantities that interest all of us who seek effective measures of institutional performance, the data collected and reported [by the Lombardi program] will remain the best current indicators for tracking competitive performance over time,” the report said.

The Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance is based at the University of Florida. Co-editors are John V. Lombardi, chancellor, University of Massachusetts, and Elizabeth D. Capaldi, vice chancellor and chief of staff, State University of New York.

For more information, visit The Top American Research Universities.