What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$8,174 to $35,402 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $39,926 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $40,170.Aid and debt
30%
receive need-based grants
$28,111
average debt at graduation
Not reported by this school: merit aid.
Getting In
Admit rates
15.6%
admitted overall
27.7%
admitted Early Decision
14.6%
admitted Regular Decision
A note for out-of-state applicants
The University of Virginia's out-of-state undergraduate share has already crossed a threshold set by Virginia's state budget law, which means the school can't let that share grow any further — though it isn't required to bring it back down. If you're applying from outside Virginia, this cap on further growth may affect your odds in ways the admit rate above doesn't show.
Early Decision
Early Decision applicants were admitted at nearly 2x the Regular Decision rate, and Early Decision is binding: you commit to attend if admitted.
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Some of that gap reflects who applies early (recruited athletes, legacy applicants and highly committed students concentrate in that pool), so it isn't proof that applying early would raise any one student's own odds.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1410–1510 · 49% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 32–34 · 15% of the class submitted
90.3% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- Class rank
- GPA
- Character
- In-state residency
- Important
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- First-gen status
- Where you're from
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Legacy status
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
UVA rates course rigor as Very Important, and your essay, your recommendations, and your activities as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. A strong essay can differentiate an otherwise average application. Recommendations matter here too — a recommender who knows you well helps. And depth and leadership in a few activities matter more than a long list.
UVA doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
UVA just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-UVA essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
44.1% of UVA classes have fewer than 20 students.
44.1%
under 20 students
37.3%
20 to 49
18.6%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. UVA CDS 2025–26, I-3.
14:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
30.8%
first-years from out of state
40.6%
live on campus
17.2%
of men in fraternities
24.3%
of women in sororities
Greek-life participation from UVA FSL (2025) — not reported in UVA's 2025–26 Common Data Set.
Who attends
- White47.7%
- Asian19.9%
- Hispanic8.5%
- Black7.5%
- Multiracial5.9%
- Unknown / other5.2%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. UVA CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
90.8% of UVA students graduate in 4 years.
90.8%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
94.4%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
97%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
90.1% finish in 6 years, against 94.4% of all students.
A 4.3-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Charlottesville.
Charlottesville is a small city wrapped around a genuinely beautiful campus, with a brick pedestrian mall of restaurants and music venues a short walk from Grounds and the Blue Ridge Mountains visible on the horizon.
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Wineries, hiking, and Monticello are all within half an hour. It suits students who want an outdoorsy, historic setting with a walkable town attached; Washington, D.C. is two hours up the road for internships, museums, and big-city weekends.
The City
College town
Charlottesville, VA
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Edgar Allan Poe
Pioneer of the short story and the detective genre; his room on the West Range is preserved and open to visitors.
Tina Fey
Writer and performer behind 30 Rock and Mean Girls, and the first woman to serve as head writer of Saturday Night Live.
Katie Couric
The first woman to solo-anchor a weeknight network evening news broadcast, after 15 years hosting the Today show.
Ralph Sampson
Three-time national college player of the year at Virginia and a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
Paul Tudor Jones
Hedge fund founder who also started the Robin Hood Foundation, one of the largest anti-poverty organizations in New York.
Walter Reed
Army physician whose research proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, transforming public health worldwide.
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Living on the Lawn
Each year a small group of fourth-years is selected to live in the original rooms Thomas Jefferson designed along the Lawn. The rooms have fireplaces but no private bathrooms, and residents still walk outside to shower — which is part of the appeal.
Lighting of the Lawn
Every December, students gather on the Lawn for an a cappella and dance performance that ends with the Rotunda and colonnades lit up at once. It began in 2001 as a community gathering and has become the biggest student event of the fall.
The Honor System
Students run their own honor system, investigating and adjudicating cases themselves rather than leaving it to the administration. It's why many exams at UVA are unproctored and take-home.
Weekend escapes from Charlottesville
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Charlottesville
Shenandoah National Park
30 minutesSkyline Drive, waterfall trails, and a stretch of the Appalachian Trail that's close enough for an afternoon trip.
Washington, D.C.
2 hoursFree Smithsonian museums, monuments, and the internship and interview circuit that draws a lot of UVA students.
Richmond
1 hourVirginia's capital, with a strong restaurant scene, riverside rapids in the middle of the city, and the VMFA art museum.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Charlottesville-Albemarle (CHO)
15 minutes from campus
For international flights: Washington Dulles International (IAD) — about 2 hours by car.
Pro sports nearby
- Washington Commanders NFLAbout 2 hours away
- Washington Capitals NHLAbout 2 hours away
- Richmond Flying Squirrels MiLBAbout 1 hour away
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
UVA sits two hours from Washington, D.C. and one hour from Richmond, which opens up government, policy, consulting, and finance internships without requiring a summer move.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Deloitte
- Capital One
- CFA Institute
- UVA Health
- Booz Allen Hamilton
Washington, D.C. — about 2 hours from Grounds
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
UVA pairs a 90.8% four-year graduation rate with a commitment to meet 100% of demonstrated need, and about six in ten undergraduates are Virginians — so this reads very differently depending on which side of the state line your family lives on. The culture is traditional and self-governing: students run their own honor system and adjudicate cases themselves, which is why many exams here are unproctored take-homes.