Virginia Military Institute (VMI) received 5 stars; William & Mary (W&M), University of Virginia (UVA) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA Tech) all received 4.5 stars.
Money Magazine uses a unique star rating system and includes metrics like the net price of a degree, average borrowing rates, and median earnings. It also calculates “value add” to measure a school’s actual performance against predicted outcomes, assessing how effectively a college impacts graduates’ success.
According to Money Magazine, the ratings begin with 2,400 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges in the country. To make the initial cut, colleges needed at least 500 undergraduate students or 150 freshmen, sufficient and reliable data for analysis, no financial distress, and a graduation rate at or above the median for their institutional category or a high “value-added” graduation rate. A total of 745 schools met these criteria, which were then ranked on 25 factors in three categories.
UMW students typically complete their degrees in 4.2 years, incur an average debt of $20,500, and have early career earnings averaging $60,281 ten years post-enrollment. Additionally, 73% of UMW students earn more than a high school graduate within six years of starting college.
We hope students and parents use our list to discover new colleges that may be worth their attention, and perhaps more importantly, we want our analysis to encourage readers to think critically about what they’re paying for college and what sort of outcomes they can expect in return,” said Kaitlin Mulhere, Money’s education editor.
The University of Mary Washington’s Continuing & Professional Studies Department’s Business Acumen Series has three more events this year. This series of one-day seminars aims to build leadership and business skills in the Fredericksburg region. The series focuses on Dynamic Leadership under the theme “Dynamic Mind for Dynamic Times: Agile Leadership in the Age of Change.”
The Stafford Economic Development Authority has invested in 50 seats for the series to support the Stafford business community with educational resources. Each seminar is valued at $275. A limited number of seats are available at no cost to Stafford businesses. Interested parties are encouraged to apply for this opportunity.
Location: University Hall, UMW – Stafford Campus, 125 University Boulevard, Fredericksburg, VA 22406
Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lunch is IncludedÂ
Learn more about the courses offered:
Leading and Managing Hybrid Teams – September 19, 2024
Leading from Every Seat – October 16, 2024 (UMW – Dahlgren Campus, 4224 University Drive, King George, VA 22485)
Building a Growth Mindset in Your Team – November 14, 2024
On Monday, June 10, and Tuesday, June 11, Fredericksburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth K. Humphries dropped charges against the nine students arrested and charged with trespassing during an anti-Israel campus protest on April 27. Humphries opted to prosecute three more individuals arrested on that date who were not students. Each was sentenced to 20 hours of community service.
The protestors ignored commands to leave the area after officers declared an unlawful assembly, also known as a riot. The University of Mary Washington has stonewalled this news organization in its many attempts to learn the identities of those charged. Humphries failed to include the identities in a lengthy four-page statement about her decision.
Meanwhile, Humphries noted the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where a woman was struck and killed by a car, in her statement about the protests at Mary Washington, calling the former examples of dangerous demonstrations.
Humphries said she decided not to prosecute the students on June 10 and 11, 2024, opting to handle the matter through the university’s student conduct process. She adds that the decision was based on the students’ cooperation during the arrests and the peaceful resolution of the demonstration, which did not pose ongoing public safety risks.
You can read her complete statement below:
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Making it as a small business today can be difficult, but small business leaders in the Fredericksburg area can look to the University of Mary Washington’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for lessons on succeeding. The center guides future entrepreneurs in pursuit of economic growth through education, consulting, connecting, and supportive research.
“A lot of people want to be their own boss,” said Susan Ball, the Director of the SBDC. She sees this as the number one reason people want to own a small business, followed by the opportunity to make more money and the feeling that they can do it better.
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In a recent political survey conducted by John Zogby Strategies, the competition between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump appears to be heating up in Virginia, with Trump holding a narrow lead.
The poll, conducted from April 13 to April 21, 2024, involved 23,683 likely voters across the U.S., 586 of whom were from Virginia.
In Virignia, the results show Trump slightly ahead of Biden, capturing 45.4% of the vote compared to Biden’s 44.9%. The margin of error for the Virginia subset is higher than the overall survey’s ±0.6%, emphasizing the close nature of the contest and the potential for shifts as the campaign progresses.
In terms of party alignment in Virginia:
- 35% identified as Democrats
- 33% identified as Republicans
- 31% identified as Independents
Voter sentiments in Virginia also show varied opinions on candidate favorability. 45% of respondents viewed Biden very unfavorably and somewhat favorably 21.9%, reflecting a polarized perception among voters. Conversely, 48.4% viewed Trump very unfavorably but also received a high very favorable rating from 24.2% of those surveyed, indicating similarly strong sentiments on both sides.
“The main thing to gather from this survey is that Virginia remains a far more purple state than many national political observers seem to think. The fact that this poll is well within the margin of error demonstrates that both political parties would be wise to focus on Virginia in 2024, as they did in several previous election cycles – but not in 2020,” said Professor of Political Science and International Affairs & Director, Center for Leadership and Media Studies Dr. Stephen J. Farnsworth.
“The big challenge for both campaigns is the high level of voter negativity regarding the candidates selected by the two major parties. Rather than focus on trying to win over the small number of voters who are not committed to one major party or the other, I expect both campaigns will try to focus on making their case by describing how awful it would be for the country if the other side were to win the White House,” added Farnsworth. “They will focus on getting people who would vote for their side if they showed up to vote fearful enough of the other side to cast a ballot. This strategy will also discourage voting for a third-party candidate, as walking away one’s less disliked major party may mean that the more disliked major party ends up winning the election.”
Similar to its predecessor four years ago, the 2024 Presidential Election has been characterized by a race to the bottom, with mud-slinging and negative campaigning taking center stage.
“The difference this year is that voters have had the opportunity to realize and experience the personal impact of the two candidate’s respective policies. While both campaigns may have the opportunity to capitalize on the negatives of the opposing candidate, only the Trump campaign has the ability to link those negatives on President Biden to the cost of living and public safety issues that will decide this election,” said Cameron Hamilton, a Republican seeking to Replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Virginia’s 7th District (eastern Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania counties, and Fredericksburg).
Hamilton is one of eight Republicans and nine Democrats who have filed to run in a June 18 Primary Election. The 7th District and neighboring 10th District races in western Prince William and Loudoun counties will be some of the most expensive in the nation this fall, and they will likely drive Virginia voters to the polls more than the Presidential candidates.
“Both President Trump and President Biden are lightning rods that motivate their opposition and inspire their respective base of voters. For this reason, I think we will see lower engagement and enthusiasm but a similar turnout as in past elections. I think this also opens the door for our down-ballot races for Senate and Congress to play a big part in motivating voters and getting them engaged when they otherwise may be inclined to sit this political season out,” said Prince William County Republican Committee Chairman Jacob Alderman.
Eugene Vindman, a Democrat who spoke against President Trump at his first impeachment, has raised nearly $4 million in the 7th District primary race, a phenomenal haul for a local race. Most of the cash is from donors in California and New York.
Derrick Anderson has raised the most money among the Republican candidates for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, with a total of $888,595.
“The University of Mary Washington has extended the enrollment deadline for admitted first-year undergraduate students to June 1, 2024, allowing an additional month for students and families to review financial aid. UMW has offered additional flexibility for incoming students to make their decision to enroll due to numerous delays in the filing and reporting process for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from the U.S. Department of Education,” the university writes.
“We can’t wait to bring you along on the journey that is our 2024-25 Season. We have so many engaging conversations in store—a reimagining of the haunting words of a young Jewish girl during the Holocaust, a group of earnest nuns just trying to do their zany and fun-filled best, a script-flipping tale of young women who question one of Arthur Miller’s greatest works, and the origin story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up told in a musical and magical way—this is a season you won’t want to miss!
Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River have a rich history, and this bond was prominent at the recent Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the University of Mary Washington. River enthusiasts and filmmakers highlighted the positive effects that rivers bring to an area.
Ten films were selected to show the needs of various rivers, and each approached an environmental theme or message. Amongst the first films viewed, a theme surrounded the idea that the well-being of a fish upstream could predict the well-being of other fish hundreds of miles away downstream. The brook trout and the striped bass were used as one example. “As those fish go, so go our stripers down in Kent Island,” said a Maryland fisherman in a film called “A Journey Upstream.” Water quality is an issue here, too. “The biggest threat to the Chesapeake Bay is water quality,” said one of the narrators.
In the Rappahannock River, the salamanders “let you know how clean the water is,” said a representative from the Master Naturalists, who were there along with the Downtown Greenspace, the Sierra Club Rappahannock Group, Sustainability at the University of Mary Washington, and the Friends of the Rappahannock, which also sponsored the film festival.
In another film, the sport of fly fishing is linked to mental health. A man teaching his son to fly fish brings happiness even though the father was impacted by his upbringing in a rough neighborhood and the George Floyd murder more recently. “Fly fishing allowed me to reconnect with my sensitive side,” he said.
Other topics included migratory birds and dust storms, surfing the Kampar River in Indonesia, freshwater mussels, and an abandoned coal mine’s toxic runoff. Many of these films showcase a group or an individual grappling with a problem and working to find solutions.
A panel chose the films to cover community science, litter, outdoor recreation, ecotourism, wildlife, and more. While the films are meant to inspire and encourage conservation on a local level, they bring up topics that uncover other topics that go on and on. It’s like a game of “Whack-a-Mole” from an earlier era.
Brent Hunsinger, from the Friends of the Rappahannock group, noted the issues with water quality, for example. There are surface water intake regulations to consider, the Potomac River aquifer, the chemicals in the water, and the draught in 2023 were all considerations as a tidal program manager. It seems like an uphill battle all the way, but a film festival with upbeat messages presented positively is a good way to get these messages out.
“Our festival allows people to be hopeful,” he said.
The audience was a mixture of the Friends group, concerned environmentalists, students, and residents from the area.
Christine Thompson is a past member of the Friends group, which attended this festival years before. “I love thinking and learning what other organizations are doing,” she said.
She lives close to Old Mill Park and sees the trash left behind after a good park day. “I think it would be simple to just educate people,” she said. The Master Naturalists have a trash pickup day at Old Mill Park on their calendar.
![All proceeds from the event went to the Friends of the Rappahannock group. [Photo: Mike Salmon]](https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FilmFest-3-1260x739.jpg){kind=link}
![Before the films started, organizations gave out information and signed people up. [Photo: Mike Salmon]](https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FilmFest-2-1260x739.jpg){kind=link}
![The Friends of the Rappahannock group started in 1985 [Photo: Mike Salmon]](https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FilmFest-1-1260x739.jpg){kind=link}