Shenandoah University
Private College in Winchester, VA. Six-year graduation rate 67%. Median 10-year earnings $58,433.
Students who entered Shenandoah University land at a median of $58,433 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is a strength: 67% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 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
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 77% puts Shenandoah University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 4,200 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 17%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Shenandoah University →Academics
A 67% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 82%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 23% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,127 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $27,181 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $24,356 at $0–30k versus $33,591 at $110k+. 97% of students get grant aid averaging $19,339, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 62% 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 · 483 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 | $24,356 |
| $30–48k | $26,715 |
| $48–75k | $26,635 |
| $75–110k | $30,332 |
| $110k+ | $33,591 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,314 of these 2,127 students, totalling $9,870,876 — an average of $7,512 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Winchester 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)