Washington and Lee University

Overview

Rankings

• #1 Best Colleges in Virginia
• #1 Best Bachelor's Programs in Virginia
• #1 Best Master's Programs in Virginia
• #1 Best Business Colleges in Virginia
• #1 Best Psychology Colleges in Virginia
• #1 Best Biology Colleges in Virginia
• #1 Best Communications Colleges in Virginia
• #2 Best Colleges for Business

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Washington and Lee University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Washington and Lee University, located in Lexington, Virginia, sets a competitive bar: about 14% of applicants get an offer. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,498. The graduation rate is roughly 94%.

Acceptance Rate

14%

Retention Rate

97%

SAT Average

1498

ACT Midpoint

34

SAT Range

1430–1540

ACT Range

33–34

Full-Time Faculty

88%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$14,155

Student–Faculty Ratio

7:1

Diversity Index

0.52

Applicants

7,224

Admitted

1,225

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Washington and Lee University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 41% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school many admits weigh against other offers.

Yield Rate

41%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

24%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

20%

of enrolled freshmen

Early Decision Admit Rate

33.9%

vs 14.0% overall

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Washington and Lee University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Washington and Lee University is $68,045, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $23,781. For the lowest-income families, those earning under $30,000, need-based grants can fully cover tuition, leaving little or nothing to pay out of pocket. The median graduate leaves with about $19,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$68,045

Out-of-State

$68,045

Avg Net Price

$23,781

Median Debt

$19,500

Pell Grant Rate

11%

Federal Loan Rate

14%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Washington and Lee University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Washington and Lee University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Washington and Lee University earn a median of $94,810, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$76,516

8 Years

$89,772

10 Years

$94,810

Debt-to-Earnings

0.21x

Earning > $25K

83%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Washington and Lee University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Washington and Lee University is a measurable contributor to upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 0.57%, a more modest figure. Access is narrower: only about 1.1% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 51% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $226,700, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

0.57%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

51.0%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

1.1%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$308,006

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Washington and Lee University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Washington and Lee University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.82, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.00), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 7% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.82

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

6.9%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$3,089,000

Investment Income

$-38,924,000

Top Programs

The fields Washington and Lee University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 32% $78,954 early-career
• Social Sciences 17% $66,496 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 12%
• Psychology 6%
• Engineering 6%
• Physical Sciences 5%
• Computer Science & IT 5% $109,009 early-career
• Communications 3% $50,714 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.