Top colleges in Virginia by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in Virginia with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. University of Virginia-Main Campus leads this list at $348,010 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
University of Virginia-Main Campus
10 Yr. ROI
$348,010
Washington and Lee University
10 Yr. ROI
$346,632
Virginia Military Institute
10 Yr. ROI
$307,550
Top 25 Top colleges in Virginia by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Public | 17,597 | $348,010 | Grad 94.4% · Net $18,056 |
| 2 | Washington and Lee University | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,881 | $346,632 | Grad 95.9% · Net $25,279 |
| 3 | Virginia Military Institute | VA | Public | 1,527 | $307,550 | Grad 71.8% · Net $15,585 |
| 4 | George Mason University | VA | Public | 27,752 | $293,381 | Grad 66.5% · Net $14,697 |
| 5 | William & Mary | VA | Public | 7,055 | $280,191 | Grad 88.3% · Net $18,880 |
| 6 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | Public | 30,923 | $276,602 | Grad 85.9% · Net $25,808 |
| 7 | University of Richmond | VA | Private nonprofit | 2,980 | $251,696 | Grad 86.5% · Net $34,256 |
| 8 | Chamberlain University-Virginia | VA | Private for-profit | 557 | $249,044 | Grad 0.0% · Net $44,710 |
| 9 | James Madison University | VA | Public | 20,888 | $227,357 | Grad 79.6% · Net $23,550 |
| 10 | Old Dominion University | VA | Public | 17,514 | $214,608 | Grad 43.1% · Net $12,913 |
| 11 | Hampden-Sydney College | VA | Private nonprofit | 946 | $211,662 | Grad 62.7% · Net $26,626 |
| 12 | Radford University | VA | Public | 6,038 | $203,550 | Grad 48.0% · Net $13,701 |
| 13 | University of Virginia's College at Wise | VA | Public | 1,101 | $203,549 | Grad 43.8% · Net $5,869 |
| 14 | Marymount University | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,810 | $203,532 | Grad 54.8% · Net $28,521 |
| 15 | Christopher Newport University | VA | Public | 4,365 | $195,642 | Grad 74.7% · Net $22,310 |
| 16 | University of Mary Washington | VA | Public | 3,566 | $183,677 | Grad 64.5% · Net $23,821 |
| 17 | Virginia Commonwealth University | VA | Public | 20,753 | $168,618 | Grad 64.7% · Net $25,037 |
| 18 | Randolph-Macon College | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,639 | $163,680 | Grad 74.2% · Net $28,145 |
| 19 | Norfolk State University | VA | Public | 5,392 | $161,156 | Grad 35.2% · Net $12,180 |
| 20 | Longwood University | VA | Public | 3,015 | $160,244 | Grad 62.0% · Net $20,773 |
| 21 | Bridgewater College | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,400 | $160,019 | Grad 52.2% · Net $21,083 |
| 22 | Roanoke College | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,767 | $156,708 | Grad 64.4% · Net $25,867 |
| 23 | Bluefield University | VA | Private nonprofit | 614 | $154,499 | Grad 26.0% · Net $18,402 |
| 24 | Mary Baldwin University | VA | Private nonprofit | 1,090 | $153,688 | Grad 38.3% · Net $15,810 |
| 25 | Eastern Mennonite University | VA | Private nonprofit | 754 | $149,893 | Grad 60.3% · Net $24,731 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; 44 campuses met every filter and the top 25 are published.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.