University of
Virginia-Main Campus
Public Research University in Charlottesville, VA. Six-year graduation rate 96%. Median 10-year earnings $86,863.
A decade after enrolling, the median University of Virginia-Main Campus student earns $86,863 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 96% of students finish within six years. Median debt at graduation is $17,500, 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.20 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 96% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 17% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. 58,951 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 40% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 46% 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 | 700–760 | 1,805 (46%) |
| SAT Math | 710–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–35 | 547 (14%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Virginia-Main Campus →Academics
A 96% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 98% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. With 17,612 undergraduates, this is a large institution — expect the administrative scale and the range of offerings that come with it.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 17,275 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $18,427 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $8,174 while those at $110k+ pay $35,402. 50% of students receive grant aid, averaging $25,035 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 20% of students.
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 · 3,965 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 | $8,174 |
| $30–48k | $9,696 |
| $48–75k | $13,283 |
| $75–110k | $20,822 |
| $110k+ | $35,402 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,500 of these 17,275 students, totalling $20,695,548 — an average of $5,913 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Albemarle 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)