Washington Monthly magazine has ranked the University of Mary Washington 25th among master’s universities in the nation in its 2014 College Guide and Rankings.   The university was listed among 671 other schools across the nation and was one of only two Virginia institutions to make the top 25. The Washington Monthly rates schools based on their contribution to the public good. The criteria includes social mobility that encompasses recruiting and graduating low-income students; research that produces cutting-edge scholarships and Ph.D.s; and service that encourages students to give back to their country. “Unlike U.S. News and World Report and similar guides, this one asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country,” wrote editors of the Washington Monthly college guide. “Are they educating low-income students, or just catering to the affluent? Are they improving the quality of their teaching, or ducking accountability for it? Are they trying to become more productive—and if so, why is average tuition rising faster than health care costs? Every year we lavish billions of tax dollars and other public benefits on institutions of higher learning. This guide asks: Are we getting the most for our money?” The University of Mary Washington’s academic reputation has garnered national recognition in numerous selective guidebooks including U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review’s 2015 edition of “The Best 379 Colleges.”