William & Mary
Public Research University in Williamsburg, VA. Six-year graduation rate 89%. Median 10-year earnings $73,490.
Students who entered William & Mary reach a median of $73,490 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 89% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $18,500 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.25 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 89% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.5 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
William & Mary admits 34% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in three applicants are turned away. 17,798 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield sits at 27% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 43% 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 | 710–760 | 696 (43%) |
| SAT Math | 690–770 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–34 | 252 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at William & Mary →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 89% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 95% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. With 6,963 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,949 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $19,686 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $3,106 at $0–30k versus $34,370 at $110k+. About 50% get grants averaging $23,152, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 22% 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 · 1,619 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 | $3,106 |
| $30–48k | $881 |
| $48–75k | $5,916 |
| $75–110k | $16,803 |
| $110k+ | $34,370 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,510 of these 6,949 students, totalling $9,234,017 — an average of $6,115 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Williamsburg 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)