"Just last September, Ryan announced the University would invest $50 million in additional matching funds to the Bicentennial Scholarship Fund to further increase access and affordability for undergraduate students with financial need and for merit-based scholarships. Since its establishment, the program has paired donor contributions with institutional matching funds to establish more than 500 endowed scholarship funds for undergraduate and graduate students. These commitments to excellence and affordability have strengthened UVA’s ability to recruit and support extraordinary students from all walks of life. Among the first-year students who enrolled last month, 16% will be the first in their families to graduate from college, and 36% qualified for need-based aid, including more than 900 from middle-income households. U.S. News relies on self-reported data from schools from fall 2021 or prior year reporting on which to base its rankings."