by our College Data Analytics TeamSouthern Virginia University is a private not-for-profit institution in Buena Vista, Virginia enrolling 936 undergraduates. It accepts 96% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 33%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #2,494 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 48%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Southern Virginia University ranks #2,494 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 48%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, SVU is ranked #2,494 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.
SVU is also ranked #60 on the Best Colleges in Virginia list.
See all of the rankings for Southern Virginia University.
Southern Virginia University has an acceptance rate of 96%, so it is easier to gain admission to this school than some others. Still, the admissions staff will examine your application closely to make sure you’re a good fit for SVU.
Learn more about Southern Virginia University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1, Southern Virginia University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Southern Virginia University is 64%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 74% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Southern Virginia University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
When it comes to finishing their studies on time, those seeking a bachelor’s degree from SVU have a four-year graduation rate of 33%. This is comparable to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Southern Virginia University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 936 undergraduates at SVU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Southern Virginia University.
The typical net cost at SVU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $18,957 | $19,501 | $20,630 | $23,407 | $27,108 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of SVU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At SVU, approximately 57% of students took out student loans averaging $8,457 a year. That adds up to $33,828 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.6%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Southern Virginia University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Southern Virginia University make about $50,002 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Southern Virginia University make the most money.
Southern Virginia University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Buena Vista, Virginia. Buena Vista is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Southern Virginia University.
Get in touch with Southern Virginia University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1 University Hill Drive, Buena Vista, VA 24416 |
| Phone: | 5402618400 |
| Website: | www.svu.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/southernvirginia |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/SVUedu |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 13 majors graduated from Southern Virginia University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 177 | NA |
| Business & Commerce | 41 | $37,811 |
| General Psychology | 27 | NA |
| Biochemistry & Biophysics | 22 | NA |
| Child Development & Family Studies | 22 | $22,497 |
| General Biology | 14 | NA |
| Political Science & Government | 7 | NA |
| Music | 7 | NA |
| Design & Applied Arts | 6 | NA |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 6 | NA |
Want to see how other colleges compare to SVU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References