forbes' 2012 special report on america's best colleges ranked vmi in the top 25 public universities in the nation, well ahead of any other senior military college in the country. vmi was ranked 14th in the "top 25 publics" section, just behind the united states military academy, the united states air force academy, and the united states naval academy, but ahead of the united states coast guard academy and the u.s. merchant marine academy. overall, vmi ranked 115th out of the 650 colleges and universities evaluated.