These VA Colleges Earned Top Scores On New National Ranking

Several Virginia colleges have been named to Money’s 2025 Best Colleges in America ratings, which focuses on affordable institutions, have strong academic programs and give graduates a strong shot at a good salary after graduation.

Money said its 11th annual ratings can give families of college-bound students some control in the uncertain landscape and help them find a college they can afford, with the academic programs and campus culture they want.

The 732 colleges are those where students are most likely to graduate and land jobs, Money said.

Schools from Virginia include:

William & Mary, Williamsburg
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 33 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $44,660
Estimated price with average aid: $21,700
Graduation rate: 91 percent

Washington and Lee University, Lexington
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 17 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $90,280
Estimated price with average aid: $26,200
Graduation rate: 94 percent

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 57 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $38,660
Estimated price with average aid: $23,600
Graduation rate: 86 percent

Virginia Military Institute, Lexington
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 82 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $36,140
Estimated price with average aid: $8,300
Graduation rate: 75 percent

University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 17 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $41,430
Estimated price with average aid: $18,900
Graduation rate: 93 percent

University of Richmond
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 23 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $84,390
Estimated price with average aid: $37,400
Graduation rate: 88 percent

James Madison University, Harrisonburg
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 76 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $33,180
Estimated price with average aid: $27,900
Graduation rate: 82 percent

George Mason University, Fairfax
Star rating: 4.5
Acceptance rate: 89 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $35,020
Estimated price with average aid: $20,100
Graduation rate: 76 percent

Christopher Newport University, Newport News
Star rating: 4
Acceptance rate: 88 percent
Estimated full cost, 2025-2026: $35,830
Estimated price with average aid: $24,300
Graduation rate: 74 percent

Money looks at about two dozen data points to assemble the final lists, which were weighted by affordability (40 percent) and quality of education and outcomes, including post-graduation salaries (30 percent each).

Money said its ranking comes as the Trump administration reshapes higher education, including cuts to research grant funding, increased taxes on endowment, shrinking federal funding for some college access programs, and a crackdown on international student enrollment. The recently signed budget bill also makes changes to federal Pell grants and overhauls student loans.

“The volume of higher ed news right now is, frankly, overwhelming,” Marc Zawel, who cofounded the admissions consulting company AcceptU in 2009, told Money. “There’s a lot of noise that [students are] trying to work through to make sense of what actually affects them.”

Go here to see all rankings.

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