Virginia Commonwealth University

Overview of Virginia Commonwealth University

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Virginia Commonwealth University is a large school surrounded by Richmond, a mid-size city. The campus is spread out, allowing for room to roam between each building, but it’s not so large that you’ll have trouble finding your classes.

VCU is a public state university. You won’t have to worry about finding an apartment; VCU provides campus housing for any student who prefers to live in the dorms.

As you get used to the campus, you’ll see plenty of other students. There are nearly 30,000 students enrolled most years. The student-to-faculty ratio is 18 to 1, which means that there may be small class sizes on average, but you may have to schedule office hours with your professor if you have any issues with a class or need assistance with a project.

Top Rankings For Virginia Commonwealth University

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Admissions

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Tuition Cost & Financial Aid

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No college is free. With tuition, room and board, and other various expenses, the total cost of attending Virginia Commonwealth University is $32,722. This is the same for both in- and out-of-state tuition.

However, all students have the option to apply for financial aid. After financial aid has been applied to the total cost, what’s left is called the average net price. In a recent school year, this remaining cost was around $20,968. This net price is affected by a family’s income because that is how financial aid is distributed. Families earning up to $30,000 paid around $16,768. Families earning between $48,001 and $75,000 paid around $20,868. Families earning more than $110,001 paid around $28,155.

The number of freshmen who received financial aid was around 3,675 in recent years; 3,050 received grants and scholarships averaging $11,035 and 2,697 received an average of $5,731 in institutional grants and scholarships.

Sticker Price

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Academics

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With a student population of almost 29,757, you’re going to face some situations where you’ll need to make hard choices; when two classes conflict with each other, for instance. Or if a class has too many students signed up, someone may have to drop the class and take it in another semester. However, VCU offers both evening classes and distance or online learning. So, some of these situations will be easily dealt with as long as you are willing to take courses in a different format.

While needing to challenge students, universities also want to see them return in following semesters. For freshmen such as yourself, if you return for your second year, this will be recorded in the school’s retention rate. VCU’s retention rate is 83%, which is higher than average and shows that students here generally appreciate their classes, professors, and the culture of the school.

The 4-year graduation rate at VCU is 45% and some students stay for two more years; the 6-year graduation rate is 67%.

The five most popular degree programs (by number of conferred awards) are: business, management, marketing and related services; visual and performing arts; psychology; education; and biological and biomedical sciences.

Student Population Total

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Outcome & Salary

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After you graduate you’ll be ready to begin your professional life. VCU’s graduate’s early salaries are around $49,900. Their average salaries overall are a little higher at $63,393 and their mid-career salaries are slightly higher again at $88,300.

Your 4-year cost of education is important. That figure is $83,872 on average and this is how a graduate can measure their return on investment (ROI). As a VCU graduate, your 10-year salary earnings potential is $633,930 and your 20-year salary earnings potential is $1,515,930. After you deduct the 4-year cost of education, your 10-year projected ROI is $550,058 and your 20-year projected ROI is $1,432,058.

High school graduates not going to college earn a national average salary of $38,792. Their 10-year projected income is $387,920 and their 20-year projected income is $775,840.

Photos & Videos

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