Old Dominion University

Old Dominion University offers an accessible entry pathway for applicants, though its national standing has moved downward over recent cycles. In the 2027 U.S. News rankings, the institution was ranked at 328, having dropped from a rank of 215 in 2019. For the 2025 admissions cycle, the university accepted 90.4% of applicants, an admit rate higher than 63% of 30 peer public comprehensive universities. This high acceptance rate indicates that most prospective students who apply will receive an offer of admission. However, the university faces hurdles in drawing those admitted students to campus. In 2025, its yield rate was 19.9%, demonstrating that fewer than one in five admitted applicants opted to enroll. For families and college applicants, these patterns indicate an institution where securing admission is relatively straightforward, yet the school does not exert an exceptionally strong pull on admitted students when they weigh their final enrollment decisions.

Applicants considering Old Dominion University encounter an admissions process where submitted scores reflect solid academic preparation. In 2025, the median SAT score for entering students was 1190, which is higher than 96% of reporting peer schools among 30 peer public comprehensive universities. Among students submitting ACT results, the middle 50% scored between 24 and 29. Very few freshmen currently provide standardized tests, meaning the reporting pool represents a self-selected group. With the university accepting the vast majority of applicants overall, academic profiles vary widely across the student body. Prospective students who want their testing credentials to align with typical test-submitting peers should aim for an SAT score near 1190 or an ACT composite in the upper twenties.

Old Dominion University features a balanced undergraduate curriculum alongside distinguished graduate medical and health programs. In 2025, the top three undergraduate majors—Psychology, General; Computer and Information Systems Security/Auditing/Information Assurance; and Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other—represented 21.8% of all bachelor's degrees, showing that undergraduates are not heavily concentrated in only a couple of fields. The university's highest-ranked offerings are at the graduate level rather than among its largest undergraduate departments. In the 2026 U.S. News graduate rankings, the medical school achieved a rank of 2 in primary care and 3 in research, while the nursing school ranked 36. For bachelor's degree recipients, healthcare and engineering yield the highest compensation. According to 2023 earnings data, graduates in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing earned a median of $81,327 one year after graduation, followed by Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering graduates at $75,804. Applicants targeting healthcare or technical careers will find the school's strongest outcomes concentrated in these applied disciplines.

The student body at Old Dominion University totaled 23,743 students in 2025, displaying substantial demographic diversity. Undergraduates form the majority of the campus, led by continuing students alongside incoming freshmen and transfers. Black students represented the largest first-year group at 39.8%, followed by White and Hispanic peers. Asian students made up 5.5% of continuing undergraduates and 6.6% of the graduate student population. International presence is limited at the undergraduate level, where international students comprised just 1.5% of first-year freshmen. In contrast, international students accounted for 8.9% of the graduate cohort, totaling 535 scholars. Overall, Old Dominion educates a predominantly domestic undergraduate student body with strong minority participation, while international enrollment is concentrated primarily in advanced post-baccalaureate studies.

The student body at Old Dominion University presents a clear separation between a traditional undergraduate population and an experienced graduate sector. In 2025, undergraduates aged 18 to 19 accounted for 26.9% of the undergraduate body, while students aged 20 to 21 made up 26.3%. This heavy concentration of young adults means undergraduate campus life primarily revolves around students progressing through education immediately after secondary school. By contrast, graduate enrollment is dominated by older scholars balancing advanced training. Students aged 25 to 29 formed the largest graduate bracket at 29.9%, with additional cohorts in their thirties. This demographic structure produces an undergraduate environment centered on traditional college activities alongside a graduate community shaped by mature learners pursuing career advancement.

International enrollment at Old Dominion University is modest at the undergraduate level but maintains a stronger presence in graduate programs. In 2025, international students accounted for 1.3% of undergraduates, a proportion that has declined since 2016 and is higher than 37% of peer public comprehensive universities. Graduate programs enroll a larger international contingent, though their share also narrowed over the same period to 8.9% in 2025. Among degree recipients, international representation is minimal across popular undergraduate majors like psychology and cybersecurity, but expands substantially in advanced technical disciplines. Most noticeably, international students earned 77% of the master's degrees awarded in Computer and Information Sciences, General in 2025. For prospective international applicants, these patterns indicate that peer communities and academic cohorts are concentrated primarily within specialized graduate STEM disciplines rather than distributed evenly across the undergraduate student body.

Prospective students exploring Old Dominion University can consider several other higher education institutions located within driving distance in Virginia and North Carolina. Situated 34.5 kilometers away in historic Williamsburg, William & Mary is a public national university ranked 52nd in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. In the state capital of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University is a public institution located 77.9 kilometers from campus and ranked 156th. Also in Richmond, 82.9 kilometers away, is the University of Richmond, a private liberal arts college holding the 21st spot in the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts College rankings. Across the state border, East Carolina University provides another regional public university option located 106.3 kilometers away and ranked 202nd. These nearby alternatives give applicants a choice between public research centers and private liberal arts colleges.

Campus safety metrics at Old Dominion University show an improving trend, with the vast majority of recorded incidents involving internal substance rule enforcement. In 2025, the university's crime rate per 1,000 students was 6.2, reflecting a reduction from 9.2 in 2016. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, policy violations logged by the university accounted for the highest category totals, including 458 drug disciplinary referrals and 253 liquor disciplinary referrals. In comparison, direct criminal incidents on campus were recorded in far fewer quantities over those three years, with assaults and motor vehicle thefts appearing infrequently. For prospective students and families assessing daily campus life, the data indicates that overall crime rates have declined over the past decade, and campus disciplinary actions are primarily driven by substance policy violations rather than major violent crimes.