BaccalaureatePrivate nonprofit

Bridgewater College

Bridgewater, Virginia·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·bridgewater.edu
6-yr Graduation
53%
+5.5pp vs Baccalaureate
Total enrollment
1,448
peer median 1,667
Avg net price
$20,173
-$2.1k vs Baccalaureate
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
3,938
3,938 candidates competed
Admitted
3,612
91.7% acceptance rate
Enrolled
366
10.1% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
53%+5.5pp vs Baccalaureate
4-year graduation
45%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
53%
Full-time retention
75%

Pell equity

0.0pp gap
Pell recipients
48%
Non-Pell
48%

Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 37 Title IV programs, 11 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 26 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
37
Passing
11
29.7% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

37programs
  • Passing11 · 29.7%
  • No Data26 · 70.3%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
1
Safe
10
No data
26

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

11
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
+17.2%
$42,141 vs $35,969
History
Bachelor Degree · History
+33.8%
$48,113 vs $35,969
Sociology
Bachelor Degree · Social Sciences
+36.6%
$49,139 vs $35,969
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Bachelor Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+42.2%
$51,160 vs $35,969
Communication and Media Studies
Bachelor Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
+49.1%
$53,615 vs $35,969
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+52.7%
$54,910 vs $35,969
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness
Bachelor Degree · Parks, Recreation, Leisure, And Fitness Studies
+53.7%
$55,288 vs $35,969
Biology General
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
+63.3%
$58,732 vs $35,969

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

11
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
62%
$26,000 debt · $42,141 earn
History
Bachelor Degree · History
56%
$27,000 debt · $48,113 earn
Sociology
Bachelor Degree · Social Sciences
54%
$26,500 debt · $49,139 earn
Communication and Media Studies
Bachelor Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
49%
$26,000 debt · $53,615 earn
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
47%
$26,000 debt · $54,910 earn
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Bachelor Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
47%
$24,075 debt · $51,160 earn
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness
Bachelor Degree · Parks, Recreation, Leisure, And Fitness Studies
47%
$26,000 debt · $55,288 earn
Biology General
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
46%
$27,000 debt · $58,732 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1925Next review Dec 2032

Action history · 6

  1. Sep 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Sep 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. May 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  4. Jun 2023Deny Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Dec 2022Renewal of Accreditation
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$14,410
$30–48k$19,132
$48–75k$21,102
$75–110k$21,317
$110k+$21,465

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$20,173
-$2,125vs Baccalaureate median $22,299
Federal loans
64.8%
In-state tuition
$41,350
Out-of-state
$41,350

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 493 students received $2.9M in Pell grants, alongside $8.6M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
493
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$2.9M
$2,864,340 total
Direct Loans
$8.6M
1,533 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

0k
20
0k
21
0k
22
0k
23
0k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$2.2M
534 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$3.0M
766 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$262K
29 loan awards
Parent PLUS$3.1M
198 loan awards
Grad PLUS$41K
6 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 550 borrowers who entered repayment, 13 (2.3%) defaulted within three years.

Default rate
2.3%
vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
550
Defaulted
13
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
4.3%
2017
5.3%
2018
4.2%
2019
2.3%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Bridgewater College

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs35
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

262 total completions
01Business
6625.2%
02Parks/Recreation
5219.8%
03Biological Sciences
228.4%
04Visual/Performing Arts
218.0%
05Social Sciences
207.6%
06Psychology
197.3%
07Liberal Arts
176.5%
08Communication
166.1%
09Family/Consumer Sci
155.7%
10History
145.3%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
1,448
12-mo unduplicated
1,501
Undergraduate
1,446
Graduate
55

Gender split

Men
50%751
Women
50%750

Race / ethnicity composition

White
66.6%
Black
11.6%
Hispanic
7.8%
Two or more
5.1%
Unknown
3.8%
Non-resident
3.3%
Asian
1.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

Athletes
573
379 M · 194 W
Women athletes
33.9%
Athletic aid
$0
Total student aid
Budget
$4.6M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$0
$0
Recruiting expense
$66K
$42K
Head-coach salaries
$43K
$37K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 12

Football
149 M ·
$602K
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)
86 M · 52 W
$299K
Lacrosse
52 M · 27 W
$396K
Soccer
33 M · 27 W
$335K
Baseball
45 M ·
$255K
Swimming
21 M · 22 W
$221K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
3.52
5 offenses · 1,421 students

3-year trend

6.262 yrs ago9.571 yr ago3.52Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
29
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
15
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
4
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
2

Criminal offenses by type

Burglary
3
Rape
2

By location

5total
  • On campus5

Includes 5 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
1
Dating violence
1
Stalking
2 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs017
Liquor090

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Data quality: 1 report was later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
13.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
92

Bridgewater College vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Bridgewater College selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectBridgewater College
53%1,448$20,173Baccalaureate
Randolph-Macon College
70%86.6%1,687$27,759Baccalaureate
Virginia Union University
34%98.0%1,646$19,580Baccalaureate
Virginia Wesleyan University
42%72.9%1,853$20,583Baccalaureate
Roanoke College
67%83.1%1,804$27,786Baccalaureate
Southern Virginia University
33%96.4%936$24,014Baccalaureate
Peer group median48%86.6%1,667$22,299

Frequently asked questions about Bridgewater College

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Bridgewater College.

What is the graduation rate at Bridgewater College?

Bridgewater College reports a 6-year graduation rate of 53% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Bridgewater College?

Bridgewater College reports a total enrollment of 1,448 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Bridgewater College?

The average net price at Bridgewater College is $20,173 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Bridgewater College?

Bridgewater College's yield rate is 10.1%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Bridgewater College located?

Bridgewater College is located in Bridgewater, Virginia 22812-1599.

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