Randolph College
Private College in Lynchburg, VA. Six-year graduation rate 46%. Median 10-year earnings $53,409.
Students who entered Randolph College land at a median of $53,409 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 46% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $26,950 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 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Randolph College admits 94% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 2,416, typical for a school of this reach. Only 12% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 5% 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 | 550–620 | 9 (5%) |
| SAT Math | 550–590 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 14 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Randolph College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 46%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 75% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 20% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 8:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 521 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $21,668 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $13,048 at $0–30k against $19,590 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $24,384, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 70% take federal loans.
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 · 200 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 | $13,048 |
| $30–48k | $13,709 |
| $48–75k | $16,290 |
| $75–110k | $18,260 |
| $110k+ | $19,590 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 363 of these 521 students, totalling $2,422,144 — an average of $6,673 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lynchburg City) — 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)