Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia 23284
Michael D. Pratt
Director, Virginia Center for Urban Development
Phone: (804) 828-1835
mdpratt@vcu.edu
www.vcu.edu

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ABOUT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY

Located in Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is the largest university in Virginia — enrolling nearly 32,000 students — and ranks among the top  universities in the country in sponsored research. VCU offers comprehensive undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and professional programs and encompasses one of the largest academic health centers in the U.S.

Ranked by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the nation’s top research universities, VCU attracts more than $225 million a year in sponsored research funding. Eighteen centers and institutes of excellence — involving faculty from multiple disciplines in public policy, biotechnology and health care discoveries — support the university’s research mission. VCU and the VCU Health System have been honored with more than a decade of national recognition by U.S. News & World Report; local, regional and national guides to the best hospitals, best doctors and best places to work; and professional societies and journals.

The implementation of a master site plan in 2005 set the stage for new academic, medical, student housing, recreation and parking facilities that transformed VCU from a commuter campus to a residential campus of a major research university and collegiate community. Several initiatives resulting from this plan include the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, the School of Engineering, the Carver-VCU Partnership, VCU Life Sciences and, most recently, the Monroe Park Campus Addition and the Critical Care Hospital at the VCU Medical Center.

NATIONAL RANKING

• The VCU School of the Arts is ranked the No. 1 public university visual arts and design graduate program by U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” In total, 25 VCU graduate and first professional programs are ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the best in the nation, including the No. 1 ranked sculpture and nurse anesthesia programs. Other VCU programs ranked in the top 20 include the Master of Fine Arts in the School of Arts, graphic design, fiber arts, painting and drawing, multimedia/visual communications, ceramics, printmaking, health services administration, occupational therapy, rehabilitation counseling, social work, drug and alcohol abuse, community health, women’s health, and dentistry.
• The Center for Measuring University Performance ranks VCU among the top 100 American research universities.
• VCU ranks among the top 199 world universities and the top 99 North and Latin American Universities in the 2008 Academic Rankings of World Universities.
• The VCU schools of Medicine and Nursing achieved significantly higher rankings in medical research funding in 2009 — medicine moved up six positions and nursing into the top 20. National Institutes of Health data show that the VCU School of Medicine moved from No. 59 in 2007 to No. 53 for 2008, out of 126 ranked schools of medicine, and the VCU School of Nursing moved from 23 in 2007 to No. 19, out of 82 ranked schools of nursing — higher than any nursing school in Virginia.
• VCU ranks among the top 50 “Best Employers for Workers Over 50” in the U.S. as named by AARP.
• In 2008, Advertising Age recognized the potential of the Brandcenter’s new Creative Technology track and ranked the VCU Brandcenter the No. 1 digital media and marketing school in the country. A year earlier, BusinessWeek magazine ranked the VCU Brandcenter as one of the world’s 60 Best Design Schools and, in 2005, the Brandcenter earned the title of the No. 1 graduate advertising program in the country by Creativity Magazine.

RESEARCH

• In fiscal year 2009, VCU’s externally funded research totaled $225 million. To learn more about VCU’s research activities, please visit www.research.vcu.edu.

AFFILIATED SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, GRADUATE SCHOOLS

SATELLITE CAMPUSES:

VCU School of Medicine Inova Campus

VCU School of the Arts in Qatar

VCU School of Social Work - Northern Virginia

VCU Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences

NUMBER DEGREES CONFERRED (2008-2009):
Bachelor’s: 3,726
Master’s: 1,556
Ph.D.: 226
First Professional (M.D., D.D.S., Pharm.D.): 395

SELECTED DEGREES OFFERED: