University of Virginia

Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the University of Virginia is a public research university. Commonly shortened to U.Va. or UVA, it is one of the oldest public universities in the United States, and the first American university to offer majors in several fields other than law, medicine, or religion.

The Grounds of the University of Virginia were purchased by (then-future) US President James Monroe in 1789. It was purchased by the Board of Visitors (UVA's governors) in 1817, shortly after Monroe was elected President. The University was officially charted by the state of Virginia in 1819, making it the second college in Virginia, after the College of William and Mary.

Originally, the University consisted of the Lawn and Range and Rotunda, which are United Nations Heritage Sites today. The Lawn has approximately 50 rooms for students (who slept two or four to a room) and ten Pavilions for professors. Today, the Lawn rooms hold only one student apiece and are highly prestigious. Nine of the pavilions are home to professors - Pavilion Seven is now the Colonnade Club.

The University has several schools, including a College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a school of education, an architecture school, an undergraduate commerce school, and graduate schools in medicine and law.

The University of Virginia is part of the Virginia public university system, which includes the College of William and Mary, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (commonly Virginia Tech), James Madison University, and several others.

U.Va. frequently ranks in the US New and World Reports top 25 for colleges and universities overall, and battles Michigan and Berkeley for the top 3 rankings for public universities.

Athletically, UVA's team mascot is a Cavalier, but the teams are called both Cavaliers and Wahoos. Virginia competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference.