by our College Data Analytics TeamVirginia Military Institute is a public institution in Lexington, Virginia enrolling 1,527 undergraduates. It accepts 71% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 76%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #551 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 11%), 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.
Virginia Military Institute ranks #551 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 11%.
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.
Virginia Military Institute was awarded 70 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked VMI as #551 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, VMI holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in Virginia ranking.
See all of the rankings for Virginia Military Institute.
The acceptance rate at Virginia Military Institute is 71%. That’s higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you’ll need good grades and to be able to show that VMI is a good fit for you.
About 4% of students accepted to VMI submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 550 and 630. Math scores were between 500 and 640.
VMI received ACT scores from 3% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 24 and 31.
Learn more about Virginia Military Institute admissions.
At VMI, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 9 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Virginia Military Institute is 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Virginia Military Institute has a freshmen retention rate of 81%. 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.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At VMI the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 76%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Virginia Military Institute.
The current enrollment includes 1,527 undergraduates at VMI.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Virginia Military Institute.
The typical net cost at VMI 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $12,697 | $9,246 | $12,162 | $13,385 | $23,434 |
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 VMI, 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 VMI, approximately 59% of students took out student loans averaging $6,331 a year. That adds up to $25,324 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 4.5%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Virginia Military Institute.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Virginia Military Institute with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $77,369 in their early years. That’s great news for Virginia Military Institute students since it is 57% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Virginia Military Institute make the most money.
Virginia Military Institute is a public institution found in Lexington, Virginia. Lexington is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Virginia Military Institute.
Contact information for Virginia Military Institute are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Phone: | 5404647207 |
| Website: | www.vmi.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Military_Institute |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/vmi1839 |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/vamilitary |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 11 majors graduated from Virginia Military Institute. 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 | 356 | NA |
| International Relations & Security | 62 | $39,302 |
| Economics | 45 | $41,118 |
| General Psychology | 41 | $38,487 |
| History | 40 | $39,325 |
| Civil Engineering | 37 | $47,030 |
| General Biology | 30 | $38,712 |
| Computer Science | 23 | $43,367 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 18 | $41,215 |
| General English Literature | 13 | $39,671 |
Curious how schools stack up against VMI? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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