Research brief & institution hub

University of Virginia-Main Campus

VALarge public institution · Overall rank #77 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 1, 2026

Azimuth ranks University of Virginia-Main Campus #77 among nonprofit four-year institutions nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

University of Virginia-Main Campus is a public university in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the degree mix leans toward Liberal Arts & General Studies and Social Sciences. Return is among the highest we track, and mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that to the factors it measures—field of study, enrollment and the local labor market—than to what it cannot explain.

Pell Grant recipients complete below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. The lowest income band pays below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions. Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

A student drawn to the social sciences should know that the largest departments are not the best-paid ones.

University of Virginia-Main Campus at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 16.8%
Six-year completion^[2]: 95.6%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $91,448

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $13,283
Median student debt^[4]: $17,500
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $28,903

University of Virginia-Main Campus rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

University of Virginia-Main Campus is a public university in Charlottesville, Virginia, enrolling 17,597 undergraduates. Its composite standing is near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (95th percentile).

Admission is selective: the university admits 16.8% of applicants, a rate far below the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Once enrolled, students tend to stay and finish.

97.5% of first-time, full-time students return for a second year, and 95.6% complete a degree within six years. Both figures run well above the peer medians of 83.1% and 65.0%.

An estimated 17.9% of entrants arrive as transfers, so the six-year graduation rate describes the experience of the majority who start here full-time, but not the entire student body. The four of the Azimuth framework sit at different levels.

Return is the strongest (95th percentile), and affordability is the weakest (61st percentile). Mobility and access fall between them (93rd and 88th percentiles).

The shape is a selective public university where graduates' earnings are a clear strength, while the net price picture is more mixed.

Azimuth ranks University of Virginia-Main Campus #77 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The strongest pillar is return, at the 95th percentile, followed by mobility at the 93rd percentile and access at the 88th percentile. Affordability is the weakest pillar, at the 61st percentile.

15.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, the federal aid directed to students with the highest financial need. That share describes the financial-access reach of the student body as a whole.

Azimuth ranks University of Virginia-Main Campus #175 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 89.5%, 6.1 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole.

Azimuth ranks the university #106 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

University of Virginia-Main Campus rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#77

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 93

Access & reach: National percentile: 88

Affordability: National percentile: 61

Return on investment: National percentile: 95

Top-ranked majors

Systems Engineering#1
Religion/Religious Studies#1
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services#2

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / University of Virginia-Main Campus briefing

University of Virginia-Main Campus cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

The University of Virginia-Main Campus publishes a cost of attendance of $39,926. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $18,613 and required fees of $3,793 for the 2025-26 academic year.

On-campus food and housing were listed at $15,300. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $21,565, which is $5,931 above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #553 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 61st percentile.

The University of Virginia-Main Campus publishes a cost of attendance of $39,926. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $8,174; for the $48,001–$75,000 band it is $13,283; and for families earning over $110,000 it is $35,402.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $27,228. Azimuth ranks the university #553 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers 46% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $18,361. The for first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients is $21,565, which is above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,931.

Median federal student debt at completion is $17,500. 84.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That median is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,576. Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $28,903.

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on the median federal debt is $199.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$13,283

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of Virginia-Main Campus

Federal borrowers who complete a degree at the University of Virginia-Main Campus face a median debt of $17,500. That median falls below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,576.

Overall, 84.8% of federal aid recipients use federal loans. Parent borrowers represent a separate population; their median Parent PLUS debt is $28,903.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 30% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $25,137 per borrower. 29% had federal loans averaging $15,881, and 5% had private loans averaging $50,300.

Earnings scenarios anchored to the University of Virginia-Main Campus program mix outline a typical earnings level of $91,448, alongside a downside of $52,920 and an upside of $126,775. Among graduates working and not enrolled four years after completion, median earnings are $91,448, placing the university in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Completers who borrowed leave with a median federal debt of $17,500, a balance below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $199.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $28,903. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $199.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $17,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $28,903

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly: $199/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $367/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS

Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / University of Virginia-Main Campus briefing

University of Virginia-Main Campus career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

Among nonprofit four-year institutions tracked by Azimuth, University of Virginia-Main Campus registers its return pillar in the 95th percentile. Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students; that outcome sits in the 84th percentile nationally.

The model attributes $8,942 to the mix of programs, which adds to expected earnings, and $1,641 to the university beyond that mix, which adds. The STEM component of the measured factors adds $4,176.

Median earnings four years after completion are $91,448, a standing in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Against a peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), the university lands above by $25,838.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of University of Virginia-Main Campus who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $91,448. That is $25,838 above the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the university's median at the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 3,256 completers. Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result sits at the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from a downside of $52,920 to an upside of $126,775, with the typical scenario matching the institutional median.

An estimated 35.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Four years after completion, graduates of University of Virginia-Main Campus earn a median of $91,448, placing the public university in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure is above the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $25,838.

Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 84th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,942.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $1,641. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $4,176.

Azimuth ranks the university #67 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $52,920 and an upside of $126,775.

The largest program with published earnings, Economics, awarded 465 degrees and shows median earnings of $110,773, or 1.34x the national median for the field. Management Science follows with 368 degrees awarded, median earnings of $139,095, and a benchmark ratio of 1.61x; Azimuth ranks it #3 nationally and #1 in Virginia.

Computer and Information Sciences awarded 230 degrees and its completers earn a median of $142,041, ranking #15 nationally. Biology rounds out the large programs with 337 degrees awarded and median earnings of $70,240, at 1.23x the national median for the field.

Earnings vary substantially by program. The downside earnings scenario is $52,920 and the upside scenario is $126,775, a wide range estimated from the program mix.

At the higher end, Computer Engineering graduates earn a median of $148,175 four years after completion, from 51 degrees awarded. Systems Engineering follows at $144,830, and Computer and Information Sciences at $142,041.

Graduates of University of Virginia-Main Campus earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students. Completers who carry federal student debt finish with a median balance of $17,500, a level that falls below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $199. For aid recipients, the average net price is $21,565, placing it above the $15,634 median among comparable institutions (same type and size).

Families earning under $30,000 see an average net price of $8,174, and aid covers about 46% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, hold a median debt of $28,903.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$8,942
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: +$1,641
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: +$10,583

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of Virginia-Main Campus briefing

What are the largest majors at University of Virginia-Main Campus?^[12]

The university's largest programs span a wide earnings range. Computer and Information Sciences graduates earn a median of $142,041 four years after completion, with 230 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #15 in its field.

Management Science follows closely at $139,095, on 368 degrees awarded, and Azimuth ranks it #3 nationally. By contrast, Biology awarded 337 degrees and shows a median of $70,240, ranking #29 nationally.

Religion/Religious Studies reports $58,324 on 40 degrees awarded, with an Azimuth national rank of #1. The spread between the highest- and moderate-earning fields reflects the university's mix of technical and liberal-arts programs.

University of Virginia-Main Campus offers 31 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, with earnings data available for 35 fields of study. The largest program with published earnings, Economics, awarded 465 degrees and shows median earnings of $110,773 four years after completion.

Systems Engineering, with 81 degrees awarded, ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Virginia, with median earnings of $144,830. Human Development and Family Studies, with 58 degrees awarded, ranks #2 nationally and #1 in Virginia, with median earnings of $71,638.

Religion/Religious Studies, with 40 degrees awarded, ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Virginia, with median earnings of $58,324. Management Science, with 368 degrees awarded, ranks #3 nationally and #1 in Virginia, with median earnings of $139,095.

The degree mix at University of Virginia-Main Campus is broad, with 31 programs earning an Azimuth national rank and 35 carrying published four-year earnings data. Liberal Arts & General Studies accounts for 22.8% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Social Sciences at 17.1% and Engineering at 9.6%.

The largest program with published earnings is Economics, at 465 degrees awarded, with Management Science next at 368 and Biology at 337. The top-ranked programs span a range of fields.

Systems Engineering is the highest-ranked, and it earns a median of $144,830 four years after completion, ranking #1 in Virginia within its field. Religion/Religious Studies ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Virginia within its field, with 40 degrees awarded.

Human Development and Family Studies ranks #2 nationally and #1 in Virginia within its field, and its graduates earn a median of $71,638 four years after completion. Management Science rounds out the top-ranked group at #3 nationally and #1 in Virginia within its field.

The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Computer Engineering graduates earn $148,175 four years after completion, from 51 degrees awarded a year. Management Science carries a benchmark ratio—program earnings compared with the national median for that field—of 1.61x.

The pattern is one of strength spread across several fields rather than concentrated in a single department. The largest program with published earnings, Economics, earns $110,773 and carries a benchmark ratio of 1.34x, while the highest-earning program, Computer Engineering, is much smaller.

A student drawn to the social sciences should know that the largest departments are not the best-paid ones. Psychology, the largest program with published earnings at 251 degrees awarded, reports median earnings of $62,794. Across all fields, 35.2% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 1,247 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report
Economics 465 degrees awarded: $110,773
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods 368 degrees awarded: $139,095
Biology, General 337 degrees awarded: $70,240
Psychology, General 251 degrees awarded: $62,794
Computer and Information Sciences, General 230 degrees awarded: $142,041

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / University of Virginia-Main Campus briefing

How does University of Virginia-Main Campus serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places the mobility pillar at the 93rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 89.5%, below the overall six-year graduation rate of 95.6% by 6.1 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $10,583 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 84th percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of University of Virginia-Main Campus in the 88th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 16.8% of applicants, well below the peer median of 78.1%, and enrolls 17,597 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients make up 15.6% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 17.9% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / University of Virginia-Main Campus briefing

What colleges are similar to University of Virginia-Main Campus?^[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with University of Virginia-Main Campus.

Admissions peerWashington and Lee University14.0% admitted

Comparison with University of Virginia-Main Campus
Measure	University of Virginia-Main Campus	Washington and Lee University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$91,448	$100,514+$9,066 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus
Average annual net price	$21,565	$23,781+$2,216 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus · higher cost
Admission rate	16.8%	14.0%

Explore Washington and Lee University →

Higher-admission alternativeGeorge Washington University47.1% admitted

Comparison with University of Virginia-Main Campus
Measure	University of Virginia-Main Campus	George Washington University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$91,448	$95,967+$4,519 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus
Average annual net price	$21,565	$36,586+$15,021 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus · higher cost
Admission rate	16.8%	47.1%

Explore George Washington University →

Nearby alternativeGeorge Mason UniversityNearby option · VA

Comparison with University of Virginia-Main Campus
Measure	University of Virginia-Main Campus	George Mason University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$91,448	$78,425-$13,023 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus
Average annual net price	$21,565	$17,915-$3,650 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus · lower cost
Admission rate	16.8%	87.5%

Explore George Mason University →

Lower-cost alternativeGeorge Mason University$17,915 average net price

Comparison with University of Virginia-Main Campus
Measure	University of Virginia-Main Campus	George Mason University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$91,448	$78,425-$13,023 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus
Average annual net price	$21,565	$17,915-$3,650 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus · lower cost
Admission rate	16.8%	87.5%

Explore George Mason University →

Similar profileUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillMatched across several measures

Comparison with University of Virginia-Main Campus
Measure	University of Virginia-Main Campus	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Peer earnings · 4 years	$91,448	$81,033-$10,415 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus
Average annual net price	$21,565	$11,655-$9,910 vs University of Virginia-Main Campus · lower cost
Admission rate	16.8%	15.3%

Explore University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 27, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 27, 2026

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.
Source fields: C150_4
Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.
Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.
Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN
National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.
Source fields: Azimuth rankings
College Azimuth · Ranking methodology
Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.
Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV
Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.
Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations
College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology
Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.
Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios
College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology
Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.
Source fields: Azimuth statistical model
College Azimuth · Value-added methodology
SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.
Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.
Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE
College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.
Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF
Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.
Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR
College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings