BaccalaureatePrivate nonprofitHBCU

Virginia Union University

Richmond, Virginia·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·vuu.edu
6-yr Graduation
34%
-26.0pp vs Baccalaureate
Total enrollment
1,646
peer median 1,746
Avg net price
$19,580
-$2.7k 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
2,835
2,835 candidates competed
Admitted
2,778
98.0% acceptance rate
Enrolled
396
14.3% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

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

Overall completion
34%-26.0pp vs Baccalaureate
4-year graduation
25%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
34%
Full-time retention
67%

Pell equity

3.0pp gap
Pell recipients
33%
Non-Pell
30%

Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.

Program outcomes

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

Of 93 Title IV programs, 9 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 84 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
93
Passing
9
9.7% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

93programs
  • Passing9 · 9.7%
  • No Data84 · 90.3%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
2
Watch
3
Safe
4
No data
84

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.

9
Social Work
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
+8.1%
$38,872 vs $35,969
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+9.1%
$39,251 vs $35,969
Biology General
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
+11.3%
$40,032 vs $35,969
Theological and Ministerial Studies
First Professional Degree · Theology And Religious Vocations
+16.4%
$51,836 vs $44,535
Communication and Media Studies
Bachelor Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
+17.8%
$42,376 vs $35,969
Computer and Information Sciences General
Bachelor Degree · Computer And Information Sciences And Support Services
+25.7%
$45,214 vs $35,969
Criminology
Bachelor Degree · Social Sciences
+36.3%
$49,024 vs $35,969
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
+41.3%
$50,826 vs $35,969

Debt vs earnings

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

8
Theological and Ministerial Studies
First Professional Degree · Theology And Religious Vocations
109%
$56,240 debt · $51,836 earn
Social Work
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
90%
$35,000 debt · $38,872 earn
Communication and Media Studies
Bachelor Degree · Communication, Journalism, And Related Programs
82%
$34,750 debt · $42,376 earn
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
76%
$29,950 debt · $39,251 earn
Biology General
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
74%
$29,750 debt · $40,032 earn
Computer and Information Sciences General
Bachelor Degree · Computer And Information Sciences And Support Services
60%
$27,000 debt · $45,214 earn
Criminology
Bachelor Degree · Social Sciences
59%
$29,000 debt · $49,024 earn
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
54%
$27,500 debt · $50,826 earn

Accreditation status & history

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

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools

Accredited since 1971
AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1935Next review Jun 2026

Programmatic accreditations · 2

Action history · 12

  1. Dec 2025Removal of Monitoring Status
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Mar 2025Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. Dec 2024Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Show Cause
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  4. Dec 2023Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Probation
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Dec 2023Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Show Cause
    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$17,272
$30–48k$20,536
$48–75k$22,097
$75–110k$24,665
$110k+$21,677

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

Avg net price (private)
$19,580
-$2,667vs Baccalaureate median $22,247
Federal loans
45.6%
In-state tuition
$14,880
Out-of-state
$14,880

Federal aid volume & trends

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

In AY 2024–25, 966 students received $6.0M in Pell grants, alongside $18.7M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
966
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$6.0M
$5,963,343 total
Direct Loans
$18.7M
2,583 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

1k
20
1k
21
1k
22
1k
23
1k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$3.6M
950 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$3.5M
954 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$8.5M
477 loan awards
Parent PLUS$2.4M
150 loan awards
Grad PLUS$774K
52 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 564 borrowers who entered repayment, 31 (5.4%) defaulted within three years above the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
5.4%
+3.1pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
564
Defaulted
31
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
16.1%
2017
19.0%
2018
11.6%
2019
5.4%
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 Virginia Union

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs41
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

217 total completions
01Theology
6128.1%
02Business
3013.8%
03Social Sciences
2913.4%
04Health Professions
2712.4%
05Psychology
167.4%
06Communication
156.9%
07Computer Sciences
136.0%
08Biological Sciences
94.1%
09Education
94.1%
10Public Admin
83.7%

Enrollment trends & demographics

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

Fall total
1,646
12-mo unduplicated
1,863
Undergraduate
1,272
Graduate
591

Gender split

Men
49%909
Women
51%954

Race / ethnicity composition

Black
88.9%
Two or more
3.4%
Hispanic
2.4%
Unknown
2.4%
White
1.1%
Non-resident
1.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.2%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

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

Athletes
274
188 M · 86 W
Women athletes
31.4%
Athletic aid
$1.6M
Total student aid
Budget
$5.0M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$1.0M
$588K
Recruiting expense
$35K
$18K
Head-coach salaries
$39K
$18K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 10

Football
107 M ·
$1.4M
Basketball
44 M · 17 W
$1.1M
Track and Field (Indoor)
24 M · 15 W
$236K
Track and Field (Outdoor)
21 M · 17 W
$51K
Softball
· 17 W
$160K
Cross Country
8 M · 8 W
$56K

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
5.91
11 offenses · 1,860 students

3-year trend

0.662 yrs ago2.891 yr ago5.91Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
17
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
10
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
2

Criminal offenses by type

Aggravated assault
5
Rape
3
Burglary
2
Motor vehicle theft
1

By location

11total
  • On campus6
  • Non-campus4
  • Public property1

Includes 4 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

7
Domestic violence
3
Dating violence
0
Stalking
10 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons11
Drugs15
Liquor00

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
16.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
117

Virginia Union vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Virginia Union 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
SubjectVirginia Union University
34%1,646$19,580Baccalaureate
Virginia Wesleyan University
42%72.9%1,853$20,583Baccalaureate
Roanoke College
67%83.1%1,804$27,786Baccalaureate
Randolph-Macon College
70%86.6%1,687$27,759Baccalaureate
Washington and Lee University
94%14.0%2,241$23,911Baccalaureate
Bridgewater College
53%91.7%1,448$20,173Baccalaureate
Peer group median60%83.1%1,746$22,247

Frequently asked questions about Virginia Union University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Virginia Union.

What is the graduation rate at Virginia Union University?

Virginia Union University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 34% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Virginia Union University?

Virginia Union University reports a total enrollment of 1,646 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Virginia Union University?

The average net price at Virginia Union University is $19,580 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Virginia Union University?

Virginia Union University's yield rate is 14.3%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Virginia Union University located?

Virginia Union University is located in Richmond, Virginia 23220.

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