Virginia Commonwealth University

Gaining admission to Virginia Commonwealth University is broadly accessible, though the school faces stiff competition when enrolling accepted applicants. In the 2027 US News Best Colleges rankings, the university stood at 156th among national universities, moving up from earlier years but softening slightly after reaching a peak in 2025. Admissions have become increasingly open over the past decade, culminating in an acceptance rate of 92.6% in 2025. That figure is higher than 90% of 30 public comprehensive universities with similar rankings, meaning nearly all qualified applicants secure an offer. However, the university experiences a modest draw once admission decisions are released. The 2025 yield rate was 21.6%, higher than 57% of peer institutions, indicating that roughly one in five admitted candidates ultimately enrolled. For prospective applicants, these admission dynamics make the institution an accessible option, while the yield reflects that admitted students frequently weigh their acceptances against other college opportunities.

Admissions at Virginia Commonwealth University favor consistent academic achievement in high school rather than unusually high standardized test scores. In 2025, the institutional median SAT score was 1130, which is higher than 12% of peer public comprehensive universities with similar rankings. High school grade trends among admitted cohorts show that the vast majority earned solid B-plus or A averages. In applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway, which are unofficial data rather than university figures, admitted international students had a median unweighted high school grade point average of 3.45 and a median SAT score of 1140. These benchmarks suggest that competitive applicants generally present strong classroom grades alongside moderate standardized test results. Students targeting the university should focus on maintaining a dependable grade record throughout secondary school, as classroom performance aligns well with typical admitted profiles.

Undergraduate degree conferrals at Virginia Commonwealth University are broadly distributed across fields, while its most prominent academic rankings are concentrated in graduate-level arts and healthcare. In 2025, the three largest undergraduate programs accounted for 22.4% of all bachelor's degrees, showing that students are not overly clustered in just a few departments. The single largest major was Psychology, General, with 510 graduates, followed by Biology/Biological Sciences, General. However, the institution's highest-profile national standing lies in specialized graduate divisions: in the 2026 US News graduate rankings, the School of the Arts ranked 2nd nationally, and the School of Medicine tied for 2nd in both primary care and research. In terms of early career financial outcomes, technical fields delivered the highest returns. Based on 2023 data for graduates one year after college, Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering led all undergraduate programs with median earnings of $83,487. Applicants seeking strong artistic or medical preparation benefit from the university's graduate reputation, while undergraduate technical majors offer substantial early financial returns.

Virginia Commonwealth University educates a large and diverse student population totaling 28,464 students in 2025, with women forming a clear majority across all divisions. Among incoming undergraduate freshmen, Asian students represented 14% of the cohort, while international students accounted for 2%. Continuing undergraduates reflect a very similar demographic balance, with domestic minority students making up a notable share of lecture halls. In contrast, international enrollment is far more pronounced at the advanced level. Within the graduate student body, international candidates comprised 9.5% of enrollment, alongside Asian students who represented nearly one-tenth of the division. For incoming undergraduates, this profile means studying alongside a predominantly domestic and racially diverse peer group, whereas international students find their strongest community presence within graduate programs.

The student body at Virginia Commonwealth University presents a clear age distinction between undergraduate and graduate divisions. In 2025, undergraduates aged 18 to 19 represented 36.6% of the undergraduate population, and those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 36.3%. This concentration indicates that undergraduate campus life primarily revolves around traditional college-age peers progressing straight from secondary education. In contrast, the graduate community skews older and comprises individuals advancing their qualifications. The largest graduate segment was aged 25 to 29 at 33.3%, followed by students aged 22 to 24 at 29.3%. Consequently, undergraduate activities and facilities align with typical emerging adult routines, whereas the graduate environment brings together early-career professionals focusing on postgraduate training.

International student enrollment at Virginia Commonwealth University has moved in contrasting directions across degree levels over the past decade. At the undergraduate level, international representation declined to 2.2% in 2025, a proportion higher than 43% of 30 public comprehensive universities with similar rankings. In contrast, the international share among graduate students trended upward over the same decade, climbing to 9.5% in 2025. This divergence is equally visible in graduation patterns. In 2025, international students earned only a small fraction of undergraduate degrees, including just 3.5% of bachelor's degrees in Biology/Biological Sciences, General. At the master's level, international graduates were heavily concentrated in analytical and commercial disciplines. Most notably, international students accounted for 56.7% of all master's graduates in Data Analytics, General. For prospective international students, these figures show that while undergraduate cohorts have a relatively light international presence, specialized graduate degree programs offer strong peer communities.

Applicants exploring Virginia Commonwealth University can consider several other higher education institutions located nearby in the state of Virginia. Located just 5.1 kilometers away in the same metropolitan area, University of Richmond is a private liberal arts college ranked 21st among national liberal arts colleges in the 2027 US News rankings. Moving southeast about 45.2 kilometers, William & Mary is a historic public national university ranked 52nd. Further west at a distance of 66.5 kilometers, University of Virginia-Main Campus provides a prominent public flagship option, holding the 26th rank among national universities. To the north, George Mason University is located 88.9 kilometers away in Northern Virginia, holding the 121st rank. These neighboring universities offer prospective students a spectrum of institutional sizes, settings, and admission profiles within a relatively compact geographic corridor.

Campus safety records at Virginia Commonwealth University show substantial improvement over the past decade. The university's crime rate per 1,000 students fell from 29.8 in 2016 to 11.9 in 2025, reflecting a significant overall reduction in reported campus incidents. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, the largest cumulative categories of recorded incidents involved disciplinary violations and interpersonal safety concerns. Disciplinary referrals for alcohol infractions constituted the most frequent category, totaling 531 incidents across those years, while drug-related disciplinary referrals also formed a substantial portion of reports. In terms of criminal offenses during the same timeframe, dating violence was the most common with 339 incidents, accompanied by reports of stalking and assault. These figures demonstrate that while overall incident rates have decreased notably, prospective students should remain mindful of personal safety and campus conduct policies within an active urban university setting.