The University of Virginia received national acclaim this past week as a great place to live and to learn.

Recently named the nation’s top public university according to Forbes annual list of America’s 650 Top Colleges, UVa received high remarks based on quality of teaching, great career prospects, high graduation rates, and low levels of debt. Alongside private universities and service academies,  UVa ranked 36th in the country following  Rice University  37th and Georgetown 38th.  In response to the rankings Governor McDonnell released the following statement,”Virginia schools recognize that they must continue to improve to remain national leaders in public higher education and it encourages me to see efforts to innovate and enhance the quality of higher education paying off, with both schools improving in their overall national standings.”

Aside from academics, aesthetically The University was spotlighted in “2012 World Wonders” by National Geographic Traveler August/September issue. Entitled “Virginia:Renissance Land” National Geographic attributes Monticello and  UVa’s Academical Village as the epitome of Jefferson’s creativity. “When Thomas Jefferson traveled, he collected wine and books—and also ideas that would change the course of history. Nowhere is the electricity of his imagination brighter than within the academical village of the University of Virginia and at Monticello, Jefferson’s plantation home in the rolling Piedmont region of Virginia.”

Via Forbes and National Geographic Traveler