University of
the Virgin Islands
Public College in Charlotte Amalie, VI. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $38,681.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,681 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 29% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $16,800, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 99% of applicants are accepted. With 977 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. About 35% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 17% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 423–550 | 58 (17%) |
| SAT Math | 360–480 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–22 | 7 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of the Virgin Islands →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 29% graduate within six years. First-year retention is 69% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Retention drops to 57% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,425 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,464 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $6,578 at $0–30k, $11,863 at $110k+. About 69% get grants averaging $8,831, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 18% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 297 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 | $6,578 |
| $30–48k | $5,968 |
| $48–75k | $8,551 |
| $75–110k | $11,160 |
| $110k+ | $11,863 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 258 of these 1,425 students, totalling $1,389,227 — an average of $5,385 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Thomas Island) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)