Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $45,543 ten years after enrolling, more than at 25% of colleges; 46% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 1.8 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$26.5K
According to Virginia State University's most recent Common Data Set, 90% of its Class of 2025 graduates (894 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $31,000 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
46 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 29 more are enrolled at another college. (1,308 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
33 of 100 finish within 4 years, 43 within 6, and 46 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 33% | 43% | 46% |
| Started in college here | 27% | 39% | 42% |
| Transferred in | 54% | 61% | 63% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Pell Grant recipients: 35%, 15 points below students with no need-based federal aid (50%). First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2018.
- Pell Grant recipients656 students
35% · 15 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant159 students
49% · 1 point below students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan113 students
50% · comparison group
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White12 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Asian4 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Hispanic/Latino31 students
35% · 4 points below all students
- Black794 students
39% · 1 point below all students
- Two or more races62 students
39% · 1 point below all students
- International5 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- American Indian/Alaska Native1 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Virginia State University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Virginia State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;Virginia State University Common Data Set 2025–26, Class of 2025About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)