Virginia Military Institute
Public College in Lexington, VA. Six-year graduation rate 76%. Median 10-year earnings $77,369.
Students who entered Virginia Military Institute reach a median of $77,369 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 76% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,996, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 76% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Virginia Military Institute accepts 71% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,066 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 32% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. 4% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 550–630 | 19 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 500–640 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–31 | 16 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Virginia Military Institute →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 76% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 81% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Transfer-out runs to 20% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 9:1 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,560 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $18,825 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $12,697 while those at $110k+ pay $23,434. Grant aid reaches 68% of students at an average of $19,593. Borrowing is widespread: 59% 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 · 447 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 | $12,697 |
| $30–48k | $9,246 |
| $48–75k | $12,162 |
| $75–110k | $13,385 |
| $110k+ | $23,434 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 928 of these 1,560 students, totalling $5,874,833 — an average of $6,331 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lexington 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)