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 3.4-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 38 Title IV programs, 6 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 32 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing6 · 15.8%
- No Data32 · 84.2%
- 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.
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.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 2
Action history · 5
- Dec 2025Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Apr 2025Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Dec 2019Renewal of AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Oct 2018Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
- Jun 2018Renewal of AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
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, 267 students received $1.6M in Pell grants, alongside $13.7M 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 211 borrowers who entered repayment, 0 (0.0%) defaulted within three years — below 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 Washington and Lee
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 · 14
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 campus9
Includes 5 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Sexual orientation3
- Gender1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Washington and Lee vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Washington and Lee 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectWashington and Lee University | 94% | — | 2,241 | $23,781 | Baccalaureate |
| 67% | 83.1% | 1,804 | $24,503 | Baccalaureate | |
| 42% | 72.9% | 1,853 | $19,676 | Baccalaureate | |
| 34% | 98.0% | 1,646 | $13,235 | Baccalaureate | |
| 70% | 86.6% | 1,687 | $27,866 | Baccalaureate | |
| 53% | 91.7% | 1,448 | $17,800 | Baccalaureate | |
| Peer group median | 60% | 86.6% | 1,746 | $21,729 |
Institutions like Washington and Lee
Explore the federal data for institutions in Washington and Lee's comparison group.
- BaccalaureateVirginia
Roanoke College
Grad rate67%Admit rate83.1%Enrollment1,804Net price$24,503View data - BaccalaureateVirginia
Virginia Wesleyan University
Grad rate42%Admit rate72.9%Enrollment1,853Net price$19,676View data - BaccalaureateVirginia
Virginia Union University
Grad rate34%Admit rate98.0%Enrollment1,646Net price$13,235View data - BaccalaureateVirginia
Randolph-Macon College
Grad rate70%Admit rate86.6%Enrollment1,687Net price$27,866View data - BaccalaureateVirginia
Bridgewater College
Grad rate53%Admit rate91.7%Enrollment1,448Net price$17,800View data
Washington and Lee Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Accreditation & Institutional Research administers the University's accreditation with SACSCOC, leads or supports Assurance of Learning and assessment initiatives, and leads institutional research and reporting functions to support Washington and Lee University's institutional effectiveness efforts.
Visit IR office pageCommon Data Set
Washington and Lee's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Washington and Lee University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Washington and Lee.
What is the graduation rate at Washington and Lee University?
How many students attend Washington and Lee University?
What is the average net price at Washington and Lee University?
What is the yield rate at Washington and Lee University?
Where is Washington and Lee University located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Washington and Lee University?
About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about Washington and Lee University and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card