Jefferson was a man of many talents, and expressed them fully in founding the University of Virginia in 1819; he outlined the institution’s purpose, designed the buildings, supervised construction, and planned its curriculum, He also directed the recruitment of its initial faculty. Jefferson chose an undeveloped plot of land on the edge of Charlottesville on which to locate the University of Virginia. Jefferson was

UVA President John Casteen III visiting Valencia

skillful architect, and consummate builder, and an inveterate thinker. His belief in public service, his respect for the achievements of the past, and his sense of balance and proportion are expressed in the buildings he designated for his “academical village.”

The University of Virginia is public, while nourished by strong support of its alumni. It is also selective; the students who come here have been chosen because they show the exceptional promise Jefferson envisioned. In 1993, U.S. News and World Report ranked UVa the nation’s best public university. It has remained at the top of that annual list ever since, five times named top public university and every other year vying for that top slot with Berkeley or Michigan. The University of Virginia consistently ranks well in other published comparisons among Americas colleges and universities, whether judged by popularity with students, retention and graduation rates best-buy status, or overall excellence. The University of Virginia moves confidently into the 21st century, progressing dynamically by striving still to fulfill the vision of its founder. In 1995, the prestigious National Research Council, which evaluates 274 Institutions every ten years, placed the graduate programs in English, religious studies, German, Spanish, and physiology among the top ten programs in their field.

The University of Virginia offers forty-eight bachelor‘s degrees in forty-six fields, ninety-four master’s degrees in sixty-four fields, six educational specialists degrees, two first-professional degrees (law and medicine), and fifty-five doctoral degrees in fifty-four fields.

Affiliate Universities:

University of Richmond
Founded in 1830 by Virginia Baptists, the University of Richmond is primarily a residential university with a focus on teaching, encompassing four schools in the undergraduate division: Business, Leadership Studies, Arts and Sciences, Continuing Studies. Graduate level schools include Arts and Sciences, MBA, Law.

University of Mississippi
Founded in 1848, the University of Mississippi currently offers students more than 100 academic programs. The academic divisions on the UM-Oxford campus are the College of Liberal Arts; schools of Accountancy, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Law; and the Graduate School.