About
Villa Maria College is a small, private, Catholic institution located in Buffalo, New York, founded by the Felician Sisters. The college offers 22 degree programs across six departments and has a diverse student body of over 500 students. Notable focus areas include Digital Media Arts, Health Sciences, and Fine Arts & Design.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 13.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 40 Title IV programs, 3 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 37 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing3 · 7.5%
- No Data37 · 92.5%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
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.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Programmatic accreditations · 3
Action history · 5
- Aug 2022Warning or Equivalent-Factors Affecting Academic QualityAmerican Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education · Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) - Programs leading to an associate degree
- Feb 2022Approved for Distance EducationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Jun 2018Renewal of AccreditationMiddle States Commission on Higher Education
- Dec 2016Initial AccreditationAmerican Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education · Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) - Programs leading to an associate degree
- Aug 2014Change in Agency recognitionNational Association of Schools of Music, Commission on Accreditation · Music (MUS) - Institutions and units within institutions offering degree-granting and/or non-degree-granting programs
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 435 students received $2.4M in Pell grants, alongside $2.4M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
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.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 227 borrowers who entered repayment, 19 (8.3%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* 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.
Academic programs at Villa Maria College
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 2
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus1
- Public property1
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Villa Maria College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Villa Maria College selected for federal comparison reporting.
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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectVilla Maria College | 31% | — | 611 | $13,980 | Baccalaureate |
Aquinas College | 65% | 89.9% | 1,157 | $18,902 | Baccalaureate |
Daemen University | 59% | 68.3% | 2,540 | $18,244 | Doctoral/Professional |
Felician University | 47% | 94.0% | 2,427 | $41,315 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs |
Fisher College | 25% | 70.7% | 1,652 | $25,702 | Baccalaureate |
Hilbert College | 55% | 97.2% | 968 | $22,100 | Baccalaureate |
Holy Cross College | 45% | 75.2% | 661 | $26,470 | Baccalaureate |
Keuka College | 58% | 68.1% | 1,366 | $25,989 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs |
Keystone College | 35% | 84.8% | 952 | $21,461 | Baccalaureate |
Russell Sage College | 56% | 53.3% | 2,790 | $23,027 | Doctoral/Professional |
University of Saint Francis-Fort Wayne | 54% | 96.0% | 1,763 | $20,361 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs |
| Peer group median | 54% | 80.0% | 1,366 | $22,100 |
Villa Maria College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- N. Mary NeslineDirector of Institutional Research
- Param KaurInstitutional Research Analyst
Reports & documents (2)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- Strategic plan2024-2027 Strategic Plan - Villa Maria College2024Villa Maria College's 2024-2027 Strategic Plan aims to enhance educational equity and expand opportunities within the Buffalo community. The plan focuses on creating structured career pathways and positioning the college as a hub for the creative economy. Key priorities include increasing enrollment, improving student outcomes, and fostering an inclusive campus environment.villa.edu
Frequently asked questions about Villa Maria College
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Villa Maria College.
What is the graduation rate at Villa Maria College?
How many students attend Villa Maria College?
What is the average net price at Villa Maria College?
What is the yield rate at Villa Maria College?
Where is Villa Maria College located?
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about Villa Maria College and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card