2024 Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Virginia
Accounting is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #8 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 19 schools in Virginia to determine which ones were the best for accounting students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,183 bachelor's degrees in accounting during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The accounting bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality accounting program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on accounting students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other accounting students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for accounting to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized accounting related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for accounting students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Accounting Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Virginia ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Accounting in Virginia
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting.
10 Top Virginia Schools for a Bachelor's in Accounting
George Mason University is a great choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from George Mason University receive an earnings boost of about $5,782 above the typical income of accounting majors.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from George Mason University
Virginia Tech is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg.
Bachelor's recipients from the accounting major at Virginia Tech earn $9,606 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Virginia Tech
46
Annual Graduates
$16,750
Median Student Debt
Washington and Lee University is a good choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Washington and Lee is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Lexington.More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Washington and Lee University
It is difficult to beat James Madison University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. Located in the small city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from James Madison University earn $10,216 more than the average accounting grad.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from James Madison University
VCU is a very large public university located in the city of Richmond.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the accounting program report average early career earnings of $52,310.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University
Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Lynchburg.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the accounting program make an average of $45,519 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Liberty University
Located in the city of University of Richmond, URichmond is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from University of Richmond get an earnings boost of about $13,156 above the average income of accounting majors.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Richmond
Old Dominion is a very large public university located in the city of Norfolk.
Soon after graduating, accounting bachelor's recipients usually earn around $50,522 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Old Dominion University
Located in the small suburb of Radford, Radford is a public university with a medium-sized student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the accounting program state that they receive average early career wages of $46,756.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Radford University
Located in the large city of Virginia Beach, ECPI University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduation, accounting bachelor's recipients generally earn about $40,281 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from ECPI University