Best Accountant programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others.
27 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,498 people a year. The job pays a median of $93,290 in Virginia across about 47,100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accountingmain feeder CIP 52.0301In Virginia → | 1,419 | 94.7% | 26 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 2 | Auditingmain feeder CIP 52.0303In Virginia → | 37 | 2.5% | 1 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 3 | Accounting and Financemain feeder CIP 52.0304In Virginia → | 27 | 1.8% | 3 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 4 | Accounting and Business/Managementmain feeder CIP 52.0305In Virginia → | 15 | 1.0% | 2 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
Top 25 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 27 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 486 | Accounting | $51,541 | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 2 | James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 199 | Accounting | $71,563 | 80% | — | 72% |
| 3 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 198 | Accounting | $70,303 | 86% | — | 55% |
| 4 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 3 feeder programs | 131 | Accounting | $67,291 | 68% | — | 87% |
| 5 | Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 88 | Accounting | $56,876 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 6 | Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 80 | Accounting | $52,226 | 46% | — | 90% |
| 7 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Accounting | $81,625 | 94% | $11,983 | 14% |
| 8 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Accounting | $71,508 | 85% | $24,049 | 22% |
| 9 | University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Accounting | — | 96% | — | 17% |
| 10 | Radford University Radford, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Accounting | $51,643 | 49% | — | 90% |
| 11 | Strayer University - Virginia Arlington, VA Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 25 | Accounting and Business/Management | $52,373 | 36% | — | — |
| 12 | Virginia State University Petersburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Accounting | $46,688 | 39% | — | 89% |
| 13 | ECPI University Virginia Beach, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Accounting | $44,332 | 42% | $21,909 | 75% |
| 14 | Emory & Henry University Emory, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Accounting | — | 56% | $20,446 | 84% |
| 15 | University of Lynchburg Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Accounting | — | 57% | $19,488 | 43% |
| 16 | University of North America Fairfax, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Accounting and Finance | — | — | — | — |
| 17 | Randolph - Macon College Ashland, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Accounting | $49,557 | 70% | $26,498 | 87% |
| 18 | Regent University Virginia Beach, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Accounting | $54,517 | 57% | $18,677 | 38% |
| 19 | Eastern Mennonite University Harrisonburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Accounting | — | 67% | $21,933 | 100% |
| 20 | Hampton University Hampton, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Accounting | — | 57% | $34,268 | 62% |
| 21 | Marymount University Arlington, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Accounting | — | 54% | $25,803 | 93% |
| 22 | Norfolk State University Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Accounting | — | 38% | — | 88% |
| 23 | American National University Salem, VA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Accounting | — | 33% | $20,666 | — |
| 24 | Bryant & Stratton College - Virginia Beach Virginia Beach, VA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 4 | Accounting and Business/Management | $36,958 | 24% | $12,786 | — |
| 25 | Virginia Union University Richmond, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Accounting | — | 34% | $21,249 | 98% |
All 27 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty University | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 486 | 1 |
| James Madison University | Harrisonburg | Public | 199 | 1 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Blacksburg | Public | 198 | 1 |
| George Mason University | Fairfax | Public | 131 | 3 |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond | Public | 88 | 1 |
| Old Dominion University | Norfolk | Public | 80 | 1 |
| Washington and Lee University | Lexington | Private not-for-profit | 57 | 1 |
| University of Richmond | University of Richmond | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| University of Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Radford University | Radford | Public | 27 | 1 |
| Strayer University - Virginia | Arlington | Private for-profit | 25 | 3 |
| Virginia State University | Petersburg | Public | 17 | 1 |
| ECPI University | Virginia Beach | Private for-profit | 15 | 1 |
| Emory & Henry University | Emory | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| University of Lynchburg | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 1 |
What accountants and auditors earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $83,680. Virginia pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Virginia employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Virginia
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Accountants and Auditors page.
How to become a Accountant
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Virginia
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 7 majors mapped to Accountants and Auditors7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1601Accounting and Computer Science
- 43.0405Financial Forensics and Fraud Investigation
- 52.0301Accounting
- 52.0303Auditing
- 52.0304Accounting and Finance
- 52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
- 52.1601Taxation
Common questions
Answers for people weighing accountants and auditors programs in Virginia.
What degree do you need to become an Accountant?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Accounting, which awarded 1,419 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 94.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Accountant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services. Together they graduate about 1,498 people a year in Virginia.
How much do accountants and auditors earn in Virginia?+
The median is $93,290 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.5% above the U.S. median of $83,680. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for accountants and auditors growing?+
BLS projects a +4.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 124,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Virginia?+
27 institutions in Virginia reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do accountants and auditors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Auditor, Accountant, Financial Auditor, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card