The Princeton Review has once again named William & Mary the best public university in the nation for internships, according to a new report out Tuesday.
The ranking is part of The Princeton Review’s list of the Best Value Colleges for 2022, which includes seven categories of rankings for both public and private institutions. Along with being ranked No. 1 for internships, William & Mary moved up one spot from last year in the category of career placement, coming in at 13th. The university is also among the top public schools for making an impact (seventh) and alumni networks (16th) and is ranked 10th among the Top 50 Best Value Public Schools and the Top 20 Best Value Public Colleges Without Aid.
The internship rankings are based on student ratings of internship placements offered by their schools, according to The Princeton Review website. As part of its Vision 2026 strategic plan, William & Mary is focusing on careers, with one goal being to provide a funded internship opportunity or other applied learning experience to every undergraduate. In order to achieve that, the university will undertake such efforts as fundraising to support internships, training faculty to help advise students on their career pursuits and working to leverage partnerships with other institutions, employers and the university’s vast network of alumni.
“We’re going to call them back to support our current students, and when those students graduate, they’re going to help that next generation,” Chief Career Officer Kathleen Powell said in a March 2022 Community Conversation about Vision 2026. “It will be part of our culture, and it will be part of the William & Mary experience.”
The Princeton Review rankings were compiled based on data collected from more than 650 institutions during the 2020-2021 academic year. A total of 209 schools made the overall, non-ranked list of best value colleges.
“The schools we chose as our Best Value Colleges for 2022 are a select group: they comprise only about 7% of the nation’s four-year undergraduate institutions,” said Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review in a press release. “We commend their administrators, faculties, staff and alumni for all they are doing to educate their students and guide them to success in their careers. These colleges are also exceptional for the generous amount of financial aid they award to students with need and/or for their comparatively low cost of attendance.”The Princeton Review report is the latest in multiple recent rankings that have highlighted William & Mary. Last month, U.S. News & World Report released its ranking of graduate schools, in which several university programs were highlighted.
Editor’s note: Careers is one of four cornerstone initiatives in W&M’s Vision 2026 strategic plan. Visit the Vision 2026 website to learn more.
Erin Jay, Senior Associate Director of University News