Sweet Briar College
Private College in Sweet Briar, VA. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $51,943.
Students who entered Sweet Briar College land at a median of $51,943 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 52% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
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 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
76% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. With 1,239 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 9% 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 | 560–670 | 11 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 540–640 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Sweet Briar College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 52%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 69% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. With 31% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. At 9:1, 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 464 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $21,322 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $11,734 at $0–30k versus $24,710 at $110k+. 99% of students get grant aid averaging $21,233, 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 · 138 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 | $11,734 |
| $30–48k | $12,568 |
| $48–75k | $15,247 |
| $75–110k | $20,188 |
| $110k+ | $24,710 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 216 of these 464 students, totalling $1,414,614 — an average of $6,549 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Amherst 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)