Virginia State University

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

Virginia State University operates as a public institution located in Petersburg, Virginia (suburb: large), with a total reported enrollment of 5,074 students of which 5,556 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 State University is categorized as “19” 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 88.6%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 948 and an ACT midpoint of 18. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $15,840, with published in-state tuition of $10,043 and a Pell grant recipient share of 72.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $26,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 40.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 69.4%. Graduates earn a median of $45,543 ten years after enrolling, compared with $33,630 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 366100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 52.2% 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.