College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Vanderbilt University

TNMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #62 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Vanderbilt #62 nationally, with return on investment in the 98th percentile.

Who it’s a good fit for

Vanderbilt University is a private nonprofit university in Nashville whose degree mix is led by the social sciences. Return is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds to expected earnings.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts from them. Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish within a few points of the overall rate.

Access is well above average and mobility is well above average. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study, and the four-year earnings figure counts only graduates who are not enrolled.

Vanderbilt University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
5.9%
Six-year completion[2]
93.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$101,204

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$4,498
Median student debt[4]
$14,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$30,844

Vanderbilt University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Vanderbilt University is a private nonprofit university in Nashville, Tennessee, enrolling 7,208 undergraduates. The university sits near the very top of the Azimuth ranking, with its composite position in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Admission is highly selective: the university admits 5.9% of applicants, against a peer median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Once enrolled, students tend to stay and finish.

The first-year retention rate is 96.3%, well above the peer median of 83.4%. The six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time students is 93.5%, also well above the peer median of 68.8%.

An estimated 18.1% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate describes the experience of the majority who start here, but not the entire student body. The four that make up the composite are not all at the same level.

Return is the strongest, at the 98th percentile, while affordability is the weakest, at the 85th percentile. Access and mobility sit close together in between, at the 86th and 86th percentiles respectively, creating a profile where the financial return on the degree is the clearest headline.

Azimuth evaluates Vanderbilt University across four pillars, and the return pillar stands out at the 98th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access pillar follows at the 86th percentile, and the mobility pillar at the 86th percentile.

Affordability is the weakest pillar, in the 85th percentile, though all four sit above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions.

At Vanderbilt University, Pell Grant recipients account for 20.2% of undergraduates, the share that measures financial access. Azimuth places Vanderbilt University at #201 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Those students complete at 91.6%, a rate that sits 1.9 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (93.5%) for the entering cohort as a whole. For mobility, Azimuth places the university at #207 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Vanderbilt University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#62

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 86
Access & reach
National percentile: 86
Affordability
National percentile: 85
Return on investment
National percentile: 98

Top-ranked majors

  1. Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics#1
  2. Social Sciences, General#1
  3. Political Science and Government#3

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 / Vanderbilt University briefing

Vanderbilt University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Vanderbilt University publishes a cost of attendance of $89,590, with tuition and fees at $67,498 and room and board at $22,054. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported sticker charges of $3,384 in required fees and $23,690 for on-campus food and housing.

After financial aid, the average net price for aid recipients is $15,846, a savings of $73,744 against the sticker price. That is below the peer median of $27,371 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $11,525.

Azimuth ranks Vanderbilt #220 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at Vanderbilt University is $89,590, a figure that includes $67,498 in tuition and fees and $22,054 for room and board. Azimuth ranks the university #220 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $3,414, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $4,498, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $45,145. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $41,731.

Aid covers about 82% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, bringing the overall average net price to $15,846. That is $11,525 below the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $14,000 in federal student loans, $10,199 below the $24,199 peer median. About 58.4% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $30,844. If repaid over ten years, the median student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $159 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$4,498

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Vanderbilt University

Among undergraduates at Vanderbilt University, 58.4% of federal aid recipients take out federal student loans. Borrowers who finish a degree leave with a median federal loan balance at completion of $14,000.

This balance is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $10,199. Parent borrowers represent a separate borrowing population; their median Parent PLUS loan is $30,844.

Four years after completing a degree at Vanderbilt University, graduates earn a median of $101,204, which places the university in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $32,954.

Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 50th percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a typical earnings level of $101,204, with a downside scenario of $59,265 and an upside scenario of $147,171.

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal student debt of $14,000, which is below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $10,199. The estimated monthly payment on that median debt if repaid over ten years is $159.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $30,844. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $159.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$14,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$30,844

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$159/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$392/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 / Vanderbilt University briefing

Vanderbilt University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Vanderbilt University's return pillar is its strongest, and the earnings picture rests on absolute median earnings rather than a large gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $101,204, at the 97th percentile.

That is $32,954 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students, at the 50th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,170. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,449.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,614. Azimuth places the university in the 98th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completing a degree at Vanderbilt University, the median earnings across 1,462 federally aided completers reach $101,204. That places the university in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, above the $68,250 median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, show a typical outcome of $101,204, a downside scenario of $59,265, and an upside scenario reaching $147,171.

An estimated 37.7% of the university's programs' graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, Vanderbilt University graduates earn a median of $101,204, which places the university in the 97th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $68,250, so Vanderbilt sits above by $32,954.

Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 50th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $6,170.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $7,449. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,614.

Azimuth ranks the return pillar #26 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $59,265 and an upside of $147,171.

The largest program, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, awarded 279 degrees and shows median earnings of $86,559 four years after completion, ranking #5 nationally in its field. Economics follows with 251 degrees awarded and a median of $140,337, good for a national rank of #9.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, which awarded 205 degrees and shows a median of $160,021. Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics stands out with a national rank of #1 and earnings of $114,368, which is 2.08x the national median for the field.

The earnings scenarios for Vanderbilt University span from a downside of $59,265 to an upside of $147,171, a spread that reflects the variation in program-level outcomes four years after completion. The highest-earning programs show where the upside concentrates: Computer Science graduates earn a median of $160,021, Mathematics completers earn $141,171, and Economics graduates reach $140,337.

The university's largest programs also post strong figures. Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, with 279 degrees awarded, shows a median of $86,559, while Economics graduates earn $140,337.

Across the 19 programs with published earnings, the typical scenario sits at $101,204.

Graduates of Vanderbilt University earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student loan debt for borrowers who finish is $14,000, which is $10,199 below the peer median of $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size).

The estimated payment if repaid over ten years is $159 a month. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $30,844 in Parent PLUS loans.

The published cost of attendance is $89,590, but the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $15,846. That average is $11,525 below the peer median, and aid covers about 82% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$6,170
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$7,449
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$1,279

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

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Vanderbilt University briefing

Vanderbilt University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Vanderbilt University admitted 5.9% of applicants in the most recent cycle, a rate below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 48,196 applicants, 2,593 admitted, and 1,635 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
5.9%
25th percentile
1510
Median
1530
75th percentile
1560

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Vanderbilt University briefing

What are the largest majors at Vanderbilt University?[12]

Azimuth ranks four of Vanderbilt University's bachelor's programs nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions, and the contrast between higher- and moderate-earning fields is sharp. Computer Science leads the largest programs with a median of $160,021 four years after completion, on 205 degrees awarded.

Economics follows at $140,337 with 251 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #9 in its field. Social Sciences — the university's top-ranked program at #1 nationally — reports $103,229 on 245 degrees awarded.

The largest program by degrees, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, sits at a more moderate $86,559 with 279 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #5.

Vanderbilt University has 14 nationally ranked bachelor's programs among nonprofit four-year institutions, and 19 programs with published four-year earnings. The largest program, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, awarded 279 degrees and shows median earnings of $86,559 four years after completion, ranking #5 nationally and #1 in Tennessee.

Economics, with 251 degrees awarded, has median earnings of $140,337 four years after completion and ranks #9 nationally. Social Sciences ranks #1 nationally with median earnings of $103,229 across 245 degrees awarded.

Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics rounds out the ranked programs, with 59 degrees awarded, median earnings of $114,368, and the #1 national rank.

Vanderbilt University awards bachelor's degrees across 14 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 19 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Social Sciences, which accounts for 27.0% of degrees awarded, followed by Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at 14.9% and Computer & Information Sciences at 8.4%.

The largest single programs are Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at 279 degrees awarded, Economics at 251, and Social Sciences at 245. Social Sciences, the third-largest program, carries a benchmark ratio of 1.93x against the national median for its field and ranks #1 in Tennessee within its field.

Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Tennessee within its field, with 59 degrees awarded and median earnings of $114,368. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, at $160,021 from 205 degrees awarded.

Mathematics follows at $141,171, with 151 degrees awarded and a benchmark ratio of 2.03x. Strength is concentrated in the social sciences and quantitative fields, where several large programs hold top national and state ranks.

The highest-earning programs sit in computing and mathematics, while the largest program family is also the highest-ranked. Across all fields, 31.9% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other 279 degrees awarded
$86,559
Economics 251 degrees awarded
$140,337
Social Sciences, General 245 degrees awarded
$103,229
Computer Science 205 degrees awarded
$160,021
Mathematics 151 degrees awarded
$141,171
Political Science and Government 104 degrees awarded
$102,789

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 / Vanderbilt University briefing

How does Vanderbilt University serve students from different backgrounds?

The mobility pillar at Vanderbilt University sits in the 86th percentile nationally. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 93.5%, while Pell recipients complete at 91.6% — a figure that sits below the overall rate by 1.9 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $1,279 less than the model expects for similar students, placing the earnings beyond expectations measure in the 50th percentile.

Azimuth places the access pillar of Vanderbilt University in the 86th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The private nonprofit university admits 5.9% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 71.2%.

Pell Grant recipients account for 20.2% of the 7,208 undergraduates, and an estimated 18.1% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Vanderbilt University briefing

What colleges are similar to Vanderbilt University?[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 Vanderbilt University.

Admissions peerBrown University5.4% admitted
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityBrown University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$94,678-$6,526 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$25,184+$9,338 vs Vanderbilt University · higher cost
Admission rate5.9%5.4%
Explore Brown University →
Higher-admission alternativeGeorge Washington University47.1% admitted
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityGeorge Washington University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$95,967-$5,237 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$36,586+$20,740 vs Vanderbilt University · higher cost
Admission rate5.9%47.1%
Explore George Washington University →
Nearby alternativeUniversity of Alabama in HuntsvilleNearby option · AL
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$81,045-$20,159 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$18,796+$2,950 vs Vanderbilt University · higher cost
Admission rate5.9%68.6%
Explore University of Alabama in Huntsville →
Higher-earnings alternativeCalifornia Institute of Technology$152,843 earnings
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityCalifornia Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$152,843+$51,639 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$16,075+$229 vs Vanderbilt University · higher cost
Admission rate5.9%2.6%
Explore California Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativePrinceton University$6,128 average net price
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityPrinceton University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$108,590+$7,386 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$6,128-$9,718 vs Vanderbilt University · lower cost
Admission rate5.9%4.6%
Explore Princeton University →
Similar profileEmory UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Vanderbilt University
MeasureVanderbilt UniversityEmory University
Peer earnings · 4 years$101,204$90,139-$11,065 vs Vanderbilt University
Average annual net price$15,846$22,585+$6,739 vs Vanderbilt University · higher cost
Admission rate5.9%10.7%
Explore Emory University →

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 Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

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.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. 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

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. 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

  15. 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