Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University operates as a public institution located in Blacksburg, Virginia (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 30,923 students of which 31,731 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 Polytechnic Institute and State 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 54.8%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,364 and an ACT midpoint of 29. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $24,953, with published in-state tuition of $15,948 and a Pell grant recipient share of 15.3%. 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 86.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 93.1%. Graduates earn a median of $81,698 ten years after enrolling, compared with $67,377 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 661700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 81.6% 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.