What You Need to Know About Virginia Colleges

 Where to Start Looking for Virginia Colleges

Families looking for Virginia colleges should visit the Virginia Education Wizard which is a comprehensive college planning website. You will have to register to use many of its features. Under the College Planner section, users will find a college search option for both in state and out-of-state, links to test preparation, FAQs, and an academic calendar of all state community colleges. The website will also send email reminders if requested.

The cost calculator is limited to state community colleges. The scholarship and award estimator are also just for community colleges. The Transfer section lists existing transfer agreements and guaranteed admission agreements along with a transfer planner and information on the college transfer grant. This is one of the few websites that has information for students with disabilities.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia Students & Parents section provides a degree inventory for all 2 and 4 year programs in the state. It also includes a list of colleges and publications for student and parents. Under the Financial Aid section, students will find a useful table listing of types of undergraduate financial aid including information on the Academic Common Market.

The Opportunities: Preparing for College Guide and Workbook under the documents section is worth downloading. It’s a comprehensive 30 page document covering college admissions and financial aid. The transfer tool allows you to select specific courses and then select community colleges to see if the course would transfer from the school. This could be a good way to select a community college.

The I am the One website offers a few downloadable documents similar to those on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Otherwise, almost all the resources are simply links to other sites such the Virginia Education Wizard and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Some Numbers to Help You Find a College

Virginia has 40 four-year institutions with 500 or more full-time undergraduates. 25 are private not-for profit colleges and 15 public universities according to the Integrated Post-secondary Data System. Of the 208,804 students, 29% attend private colleges and 71% attend public universities.

The average four-year graduation rate for private colleges was 43% and the average five-year rate for public schools was 62.6%. A total of 15 Virginia colleges meet the DIY College Rankings 50-50 profile  requirements.

The average SAT score for college-bound seniors in Virginia was 518 for Critical Reading and 516 for Math. The 75th percentile scores were 590 for Critical Reading and 590 for Math. A total 16 colleges had 75th percentile scores equal to or higher than the state in both categories.

The top 20 colleges SAT test takers applied to:

• James Madison University
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Virginia Tech
• George Mason University
• University of Virginia
• Old Dominion University
• Christopher Newport University
• College of William and Mary
• Radford University
• University of Mary Washington
• Longwood University
• Liberty University
• Bridgewater College
• Virginia State University
• University of Richmond
• Penn State University Park
• University of South Carolina: Columbia
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Lynchburg College
• West Virginia University

Virginia Colleges Conferences and Divisions

List of Virginia Colleges

In the following table, the four-year graduation rate is used for private colleges and the five-year rate for public colleges. The data are based on the data available from IPEDS in September of 2015 which are available on the DIY College Search spreadsheet.

Virginia Colleges with Graduation Rates and Test Scores
(Download PDF Version)

College	Type	Full- time Under- grads	4/5 Yr Grad Rate	% Admitted	SAT CR 75th%	SAT Math 75th%	ACT 75th%	Avg Net Price After Gift Aid
Averett University	Private	851	18	63	520	530	22	19343
Bluefield College	Private	723	38	57	500	510	21	19582
Bridgewater College	Private	1840	52	55	560	570	25	19211
Christopher Newport University	Public	4962	64	59	630	620	28	20328
College of William and Mary	Public	6195	89	33	740	720	32	11534
Eastern Mennonite University	Private	1122	50	65	568	560	25	21512
Emory & Henry College	Private	889	33	66	560	560	25	18885
Ferrum College	Private	1492	20	74	490	490	20	17222
George Mason University	Public	17261	61	62	620	630	28	16155
Hampden-Sydney College	Private	1068	60	55	600	615	27	27758
Hampton University	Private	3491	50	36	550	540	23	21191
Hollins University	Private	561	56	69	640	580	27	21210
James Madison University	Public	17526	80	64	620	630	27	14521
Jefferson College of Health Sciences	Private	692	12	41	520	540	23	22022
Liberty University	Private	25911	27	22	570	570	26	23191
Longwood University	Public	4123	62	81	550	540	23	16182
Lynchburg College	Private	2089	46	64	550	560	24	23046
Mary Baldwin College	Private	1037	39	88	550	510	25	19465
Marymount University	Private	2141	44	83	570	560	24	22593
Norfolk State University	Public	4979	33	65	480	480	20	11753
Old Dominion University	Public	15102	45	77	560	570	23	12753
Radford University	Public	8545	56	78	540	540	22	12295
Randolph College	Private	649	46	83	610	590	28	22498
Randolph-Macon College	Private	1295	57	64	590	590	26	25454
Regent University	Private	1497	21	85	630	570	25	18505
Roanoke College	Private	1964	58	73	600	590	26	28012
Shenandoah University	Private	1791	34	85	550	570	26	27226
Southern Virginia University	Private	636	28	100	570	560	26	21722
Sweet Briar College	Private	680	54	84	620	590	27	25988
The University of Virginia's College at Wise	Public	1471	38	74	530	520	22	10914
University of Mary Washington	Public	3843	73	81	620	590	26	15074
University of Richmond	Private	3010	82	31	690	720	31	21067
University of Virginia-Main Campus	Public	15089	92	30	720	740	33	13463
Virginia Commonwealth University	Public	19746	51	69	610	600	26	16764
Virginia Military Institute	Public	1675	74	47	620	630	27	16633
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Public	23512	80	70	640	680		19096
Virginia State University	Public	4817	42	95	450	445	18	14135
Virginia Union University	Private	1329	22	58	420	420	17	19267
Virginia Wesleyan College	Private	1349	37	93	573	570	24	23086
Washington and Lee University	Private	1851	86	18	740	720	33	19147