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Southern Virginia University Data & Information Overview

96% Acceptance Rate
7% Student Loan Default Rate

Find out more about how Southern Virginia University ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below.

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* Rankings

How Well Is Southern Virginia University Ranked?

2026 Rankings

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.

Overall Quality

SVU was not ranked in College Factual’s 2026 Best Overall Colleges report. This could be for a number of reasons, including lack of data.

See all of the rankings for Southern Virginia University.

What Are the Admission Requirements for Southern Virginia University?

96% Acceptance Rate
95% Of Accepted Are Women

Admission Selectivity

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.

Faculty at Southern Virginia University

14 to 1 Student to Faculty
100% Full Time Teachers

Class Sizes

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.

Full-Time Instructors

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 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  100 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Southern Virginia University

82% Freshmen Retention
38% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshman Success

Southern Virginia University has a freshmen retention rate of 82%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  82 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At SVU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 38%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  38 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Southern Virginia University.

Undergraduate Diversity at Southern Virginia University

967 Undergraduate Students
25.8% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
48.1% Percent Women

During the most recent academic year, there were 967 undergraduates at SVU.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Southern Virginia University.

How Much Does Southern Virginia University Cost?

$16,772 Net Price
57% Take Out Loans
$33,828 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at SVU is $16,772. 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.### Net Price by Income Group for SVU

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$20,722 $21,345 $23,925 $25,350 $26,686

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.

Student Loan Debt

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.

How Much Money Do Southern Virginia University Graduates Make?

$50,002 Avg Salary of Grads
Average Earnings Boost

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.

Location of Southern Virginia University

Virginia State
967 Undergraduate Students
Town Campus Setting

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.

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

Southern Virginia University Majors

14 Majors With Completions
330 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 14 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 165 NA
Business & Commerce 34 $37,811
General Psychology 23 NA
Biochemistry & Biophysics 17 NA
Child Development & Family Studies 15 $22,497
Design & Applied Arts 10 NA
Music 9 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 8 $24,878
Political Science & Government 8 NA
History 7 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Southern Virginia University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Comparable CollegesWant 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.

References and Footnotes

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

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