Preeminence is at the forefront of William & Mary’s mission. “A preeminent, public research university, grounded in the liberal arts and sciences …”  

What does preeminence mean in practice — for William & Mary, its people and its future? 

Over the past year, the Board of Visitors, in partnership with President Katherine A. Rowe and her leadership team, engaged deeply with these questions. That work will serve as a foundation for conversations this year and shape the strategic future of the university.  

Building on last year’s engagement, a presidential task force was also established to better understand William & Mary’s place in the national landscape, including how new and evolving rankings impact its position and national preeminence.

W&M News sat down with Carlane Pittman-Hampton and Anthony Stefandis, leaders of that task force, to provide the community with context on the university’s strategy.

A higher education leader with more than two decades of experience, Pittman-Hampton currently serves as Rowe’s chief of staff, coordinating with campus leaders on the university’s strategic priorities and initiatives. A professor of data science and presidential liaison for strategic initiatives, Stefandis’ research focuses on geosocial analysis and digital image analysis. They are joined on the task force by faculty, staff and alumni representatives and subject-matter experts.

10 questions with the Rankings Task Force

How does W&M define national preeminence?

Our working definition states, “For William & Mary, preeminence means our distinctive public liberal arts and sciences model reliably delivers elite results on a focused set of national metrics — student demand, research, academic excellence, and outcomes — creating a virtuous cycle that amplifies talent, resources and impact.”

Preeminence is not self-declared, but rather earned and acknowledged by peers and the wider stakeholder community. Rankings are one of the ways this recognition is expressed. While they do not define our identity and values, they do influence public perception. As we work to secure our continued national preeminence for future generations, rankings will continue playing a role. 

As President Rowe reminded us, “Rankings will be disrupted for some time. William & Mary’s values keep us focused on what matters now and what will endure: academic excellence, student outcomes and serving the greater good.”

What was the charge of the task force? 

To assess W&M’s current ranking performance and forecast methodology shifts over the next five years. In October 2024, the president appointed two working groups in W&M’s first university-wide effort to evaluate a variety of rankings. Group I began by analyzing methodology changes in U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) and the impact on W&M; Group II examined societal trends likely to influence future rankings. The task force selected USNWR because in an increasingly crowded space, it remains the benchmark. Both groups worked in parallel.

Why does W&M care about rankings?

Prospective students and families are using new tools, including AI, to compare the strengths of universities. Yet rankings remain a primary lens through which the world sees William & Mary. They matter to the people who matter to us and can influence enrollment, philanthropy and our institutional reputation.

What has changed in USNWR rankings in recent years?

Rankings frequently update methodologies to reflect evolving societal perceptions of the value of higher education. USNWR rankings have adjusted their methodology substantially in recent years. They eliminated traditional William & Mary strengths like small class sizes, high school class rank and alumni engagement. In their place, they introduced new criteria, including social mobility, borrower debt and volume of faculty research. 

These changes favored large public universities with broader access to Pell Grant recipients and substantial research portfolios. Conversely, smaller and mid-sized universities like ours, emphasizing small classes and personalized instruction, generally experienced declines.

How can small changes in scores result in big rankings shifts?

As peer institutions increasingly optimize strategies to improve their standing, there has been an upward shift in scores for institutions ranked by USNWR, leading to greater compression. As a result, small changes in score often produce substantial shifts. A decline of just three points in a university’s performance score (in the scale of 0-100) over the past year could easily result in that institution dropping by as many as 10 spots in rankings.

As competition intensifies, universities cannot look to just maintain their current performance; stagnation is effectively equivalent to decline. 

How is it that W&M’s overall score has improved by 10 points in USNWR rankings, but our ranking hasn’t risen similarly?

W&M’s overall USNWR performance score actually increased from 64 in 2010 to 74 in 2025, while our ranking declined from 33rd to 54th. This is largely due to score compression. In 2010, a score of 61 would place a university in the top 40, but by 2025, a score of 79 was needed to accomplish the same feat. Universities ranked between 30th and 40th are now separated by just three points (79-82), compared to an nine-point range (61-70) in 2010. Even though our score improved, the scores of others improved more. As a result, our ranking dropped.

Have other universities experienced similar changes in their rankings? 

Universities with an academic profile comparable to ours have seen similar impacts. Mid-sized liberal arts and sciences universities that prioritize breadth and depth, as well as preparation for changing careers, continue to lose ground to schools focused on short-term preparation or vocational skills. In contrast, large publics rose in rankings.

What specific steps is W&M already taking in key areas, like research and social mobility?

W&M remains focused on what endures, including research, affordability and career readiness:

• Research: Few universities combine the intimacy of liberal arts and sciences with the reach of R1 research — here, nearly nine in 10 students pursue hands-on discovery that sparks innovation from day one. Eighty-five percent of students participate in faculty-mentored research, and 20% of undergraduates are published before they graduate.

• Affordability: W&M students have the lowest average unmet financial need of any public university in Virginia. That means W&M does more to meet students’ financial needs than any other institution in the state, according to a 2021 State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) report. The university has also made strides in supporting low-income and first-generation students, covering tuition and fees for all in-state, undergraduate Pell recipients; establishing a scholarship and applied learning endowment for out-of-state, Pell recipients; and launching the Commonwealth Impact Partnership Program. 

• Career readiness: W&M prepares students not just to excel in the workforce — but to lead. In 2023 and 2024, the university met all requests for internship funding, and our One Network connects alumni on a global scale. “Applied Learning for All” is the proposed theme of the next Quality Enhancement Plan. This initiative will promote undergraduate applied learning experiences like internships, research, study abroad and civic and community engagement.

Given the lag time in rankings data, how soon do we expect to see results from this work?

First, a caveat: Any projection of improvement relies on methodology remaining unchanged and peer institutions not making wholesale changes. Additionally, while some performance parameters are assessed annually, others reflect averages over two, three or more years. As a result, it takes time for any adjustments to impact rankings.  

Thanks to the work of the task force, we now have the knowledge to make informed decisions on what investments can align with our mission and values, and at the same time promise improvements of our rankings. We’ve never been more prepared in this area.

Where does the work of the task force go from here?

For phase two, a Tiger Team will work within four pillars: student demand, academic excellence, research & innovation, and outcomes. Our primary tasks will include mapping metrics to the corresponding William & Mary units and operations, identifying stakeholders, assessing opportunities for improvement, or risks of decline, and proposing new courses of action. After completing data collection this fall, the team will compile a report and present it to the Board of Visitors later this academic year.

Ultimately, advancing William & Mary’s rankings and reputation is not an end in itself but a crucial means for achieving our institutional aspirations. Other institutions aren’t standing still, and neither will we. We’re the Alma Mater of the Nation, and this distinction dictates our pursuit of preeminence. By aligning our operational priorities, financial investments, strategic vision and messaging with the factors shaping institutional recognition, William & Mary will secure its role as a nationally preeminent institution in higher education.