Virginia Commonwealth University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University operates as a public institution located in Richmond, Virginia (city: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 20,753 students of which 22,932 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Virginia Commonwealth University is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 92.6%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,137 and an ACT midpoint of 25. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $23,433, with published in-state tuition of $16,945 and a Pell grant recipient share of 31.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 64.2%, and the first-year retention rate is 85.3%. Graduates earn a median of $58,128 ten years after enrolling, compared with $47,161 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 886300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 66.4% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.