2010 STACK Elite 50 Colleges: #5 Virginia

By STACKPublished On: 2010-12-08

Mindful that you’re a student-athlete—and not just a student—we offer you the 4th Annual STACK Elite 50 Colleges, a ranking of the best schools for academically-minded athletes. After months of crunching numbers [wins, losses, championships, school rankings, academic progress and more], we improved on our prior years’ compilations to help you choose a school with the right balance of academics and athletics.
Breaking into the Top 5 for the first time is the University of Virginia.
Rank: 5
Total Points: 60.53
Top-15 Ranked Sports: 14
U.S. News Rank: 25
WHY THEY’RE ON TOP
Far from chivalrous when it comes to athletics, the Cavaliers fought their way into the Top 5 for the first time. UVA placed nine teams in the Top 5 of our sport-specific rankings, and two—men’s tennis [1] and baseball [1]—grabbed the top spot. With its solid U.S. News ranking in academics, UVA could stay near the top of the Elite 50 for a long time to come.
Ranked Sports: Baseball [1], Men’s Tennis [1], Lacrosse [2], Men’s Swimming [3], Men’s Soccer [4], Women’s Golf [4], Men’s Cross Country [4], Wrestling [5], Women’s Swimming [5], Men’s Track & Field [6], Women’s Soccer [10], Men’s Golf [10], Women’s Cross Country [11] and Women’s Basketball [15]
GENERAL INFORMATION
Location: Charlottesville, Va.
Enrollment: 15,208
Year founded: 1819
Percentage of freshmen in top 10% of their graduating class: 88
Application fee: $60
Acceptance rate: 37%
Average GPA of incoming freshmen: 4.0
Male/female ratio: 43/57
Student/faculty ratio: 15/1
Percentage of students from out of state: 33
Tuition: $9,870 for residents; $31,870 out of state
Admissions contact:
Gregory Roberts, Dean of Admission
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400160
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4160
Phone: 434-982-3200

ATHLETIC INFORMATION
Nickname: Cavaliers
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference
National championships: 19 [men 14, women 5]
Longest coaching tenure: Debbie Ryan, Women’s Basketball, 32 years
Nearest professional team: Washington Redskins [NFL], DC United [MLS], Washington Wizards [NBA], Washington Nationals [MLB], Washington Capitals [NHL], 115 miles

FUN FACTS
Notable alumni: Actress-comedian Tina Fey, TV journalist Katie Couric, President Woodrow Wilson, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, former NFL star Tiki Barber, Olympic basketball player Dawn Staley
Fast fact: The student body’s “Wah-Hoo-Wah” cheer was used to root on Virginia teams as early as 1890. Legend attributes the yell to Natalie Floyd Otey, who sang the ballad “Where’er You Are, There Shall My Love Be” at Charlottesville’s Levy Opera House in 1893. The predominantly student audience noticed that Otey warbled the first three words of the song between each of the stanzas and decided to join in the refrain. By evening’s end, so the legend goes, the crowd had corrupted “Where’er You Are” into “Wah-Hoo-Wah.”