Hampden-Sydney College
Private College in Hampden-Sydney, VA. Six-year graduation rate 62%. Median 10-year earnings $67,640.
Ten-year median earnings of $67,640 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 62% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $26,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 41% of applicants are offered a place. 3,177 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. About 23% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 7% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 520–640 | 22 (7%) |
| SAT Math | 510–610 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–28 | 14 (5%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Hampden-Sydney College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 62%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention of 84% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 875 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $29,717 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $13,422 while those at $110k+ pay $32,133. 99% of students get grant aid averaging $40,382, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 47% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 239 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $13,422 |
| $30–48k | $12,458 |
| $48–75k | $17,547 |
| $75–110k | $22,600 |
| $110k+ | $32,133 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 413 of these 875 students, totalling $2,591,927 — an average of $6,276 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Prince Edward County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)