10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
+$95,328at year 10Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
Public · COLLEGE PAYOFF
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, VA · 10 field-and-degree records
Earnings reported for 10 · Federal debt reported for 8
Based onObserved earnings + college priceEstimate10-year payoff
Estimated 10-year payoff
Positive payoff
+$95,328 over 10 years
Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.
7.2 yrsTime to earn back the modeled cost
+38%Estimated return after 10 years
$79,378Observed earnings · year 5
$40,945Highest annual price before payoff reaches $0
The price benchmark is $23,832 per year below this threshold.
Start with your question
What do you want to understand?
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK
Estimated payoff over ten years.
The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.
FEDERAL COST DATA
Four ways to read college price.
Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.
PUBLISHED STUDENT BUDGET · 2024–25
What makes up the annual price?
Sticker-price components reported to IPEDS. Grants and scholarships are not subtracted here.
Do not confuse this with net price. Net price subtracts average grants and scholarships. DegreeVerdict continues to use the separately labeled average net price in its standard college ROI scenario.
PRICE SENSITIVITY
The price can change the verdict.
Hold observed earnings constant and see how the modeled ten-year payoff changes as annual price rises.
← Negative payoff$0Positive payoff →
$0Annual price+$163,780
$12,000Annual price+$115,780
$17,000Current college-wide context+$95,780
$24,000Annual price+$67,780
$36,000Annual price+$19,780
$48,000Annual price−$28,220
$60,000Annual price−$76,220
HOW STUDENTS ATTEND · 2023-24
Attendance format is not fully reported.
IPEDS enrollment counts show course delivery across the whole institution. They do not indicate whether a specific degree can be completed online.
Institution-level attendance context from IPEDS. Program delivery is reported separately on degree pages and in the program directory. These figures do not enter ROI.
College identity and local contextAccreditation, institution type, dual enrollment and state prices
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE
Institution details
Current federal characteristics describing the college, not the outcomes of a specific program.
- Accreditor
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
- Main award level
- Bachelor’s degrees
- Campus setting
- Town
- Admissions
- Selective admission
- Delivery
- Campus or mixed delivery
- Federal designation
- No special designation reported
STATE PRICE CONTEXT · 2024
Prices in Virginia run 1% above the U.S. level.
BEA Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states. A value of 100 equals the national average.
What it costs and what graduates earn
$17,113Average net price / year
$34,824Cost of attendance
$22,996Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$244/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$79,378Median earnings · year 5 after completion
76.2%Completion rate
71.3%Admission rate
1,244Average SAT score
25ACT midpoint
1,527Student size
Debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. It does not include Parent PLUS or private loans. We show admissions scores only when a valid federal value is available.
What the numbers say about Virginia Military Institute
What does Virginia Military Institute cost?
Virginia Military Institute reports an average annual net price of $17,113 after grants and scholarships. This is an institution-wide average, not an individual aid offer.
What do Virginia Military Institute graduates earn?
The observed median earnings figure is $79,378 5 years after completion. It describes a federal cohort, not a guaranteed starting salary.
How much federal debt do Virginia Military Institute graduates have?
Completer borrowers report median cumulative federal student debt of $22,996. Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
Is every degree at Virginia Military Institute worth the same?
No. The current release contains 10 field-and-degree records for Virginia Military Institute; 10 report year-4 earnings and 8 report federal debt. Outcomes can differ substantially by field and degree level.
DEBT AFTER COLLEGE
Are borrowers making progress?
Repayment progress, default and debt at exit describe different federal borrower cohorts. They are shown separately and do not change the ROI estimate.
Source: College Scorecard. Repayment progress is the share of borrowers who reduced principal by at least $1 at the stated measurement point. Debt covers federal student loans; Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded. Cohorts and reporting periods differ across measures.
Who studied here during the year
1,569Students enrolled at any point
1,569Undergraduate students
Not availableGraduate students
Unduplicated students enrolled at any point from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This full-year measure is different from a fall headcount and does not enter ROI.
More student and earnings detailPrice by family income, retention, equity and common industries
WHO PAYS, WHO FINISHES, WHO EARNS
Outcomes are not the same for every family.
These federal cohorts add context that a single college average can hide. Missing figures remain unreported rather than estimated.
Complete within 150% of the expected time
75% received a Pell Grant within eight yearsMedian Parent PLUS debt
168 parent borrowers in the reported cohortMedian federal student debt
79% making progress in repayment after three yearsStudent family incomeMedian earnings after 10 yearsObserved federal cohorts
Lower income$72,846Earnings are not a guarantee
Middle income$68,559Earnings are not a guarantee
Higher income$81,767Earnings are not a guarantee
Three-year repayment progress
Lower income81%
Middle income80%
Higher income87%
Undergraduate student composition
White69%
Black8%
Hispanic11%
Asian5%
Source: College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Parent PLUS debt belongs to parents; student-debt measures exclude Parent PLUS and private loans. Cohort definitions differ by measure.
INDEPENDENT CENSUS EARNINGS VIEW
How earnings develop by field
Privacy-protected Census employment records follow graduate cohorts one, five and ten years after completion. This source is kept separate from College Scorecard because its population and methodology differ.
Field and credentialYear 1Year 5Year 10
Computer Programming.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 11
Not availableYear 1
$96,791Year 5
$124,051Year 10
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 14
$72,371Year 1
$86,440Year 5
$117,529Year 10
Anthropology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 45
$55,335Year 1
$85,804Year 5
$110,405Year 10
History.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 54
$38,967Year 1
$65,986Year 5
$87,772Year 10
Clinical Psychology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 42
$47,802Year 1
$69,727Year 5
$81,043Year 10
Astronomy and Astrophysics.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 40
Not availableYear 1
Not availableYear 5
$74,643Year 10
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 26
$34,840Year 1
$57,619Year 5
$68,363Year 10
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 23
Not availableYear 1
$74,643Year 5
$65,986Year 10
Median annual earnings in 2023 dollars. Each time point may use a different pooled graduation cohort. Coverage is limited to institutions participating in the Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes program.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
How this college compares
Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.
WHAT STANDS OUT
A faster read on this college
These summaries use every reportable field-and-credential record at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.
EARNINGS OVER TIME
What graduates earned in later years
$45,409Year 1
$75,027Year 4
$79,378Year 5
Each year can represent a different federal cohort, so the points do not track the same people over time.
Your choice of degree can change the payoff.
Graduate earnings differ by field and credential, even within the same college.
1Computer Science · Bachelor's Degree$94,3972Civil Engineering · Bachelor's Degree$76,9913Mechanical Engineering · Bachelor's Degree$76,9094Economics · Bachelor's Degree$76,2965Psychology, General · Bachelor's Degree$75,0596Applied Mathematics · Bachelor's Degree$74,7407Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services · Bachelor's Degree$73,9718International Relations and National Security Studies · Bachelor's Degree$72,700Observed year-4 earnings · compare the same field and credential across colleges
Programs that stand out against the same-degree benchmark
This view rewards performance relative to the same field and credential, not simply majors that pay more everywhere.
1Psychology, GeneralBachelor's Degree · $75,059 reported+48%vs same-degree national median$19,250federal debt2Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and ServicesBachelor's Degree · $73,971 reported+48%vs same-degree national medianNot availablefederal debt3HistoryBachelor's Degree · $72,630 reported+43%vs same-degree national median$19,500federal debt4Biology, GeneralBachelor's Degree · $71,547 reported+25%vs same-degree national median$23,000federal debt5International Relations and National Security StudiesBachelor's Degree · $72,700 reported+9%vs same-degree national median$21,500federal debt6EconomicsBachelor's Degree · $76,296 reported-8%vs same-degree national median$23,250federal debt
Comparable colleges in VA
Currently operating public institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive, not a quality ranking.
Fairfax, VA
George Mason University
- Annual net price
- $17,915
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $75,373
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +21%
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Annual net price
- $24,953
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $80,730
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +28%
William & Mary
- Annual net price
- $19,096
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $71,273
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +2%
University of Virginia-Main Campus
- Annual net price
- $21,565
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $85,639
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- +53%
Compare fields and degree levels
Showing all 10 field-and-degree records in the current release.
| Major or field | Degree level | Earnings, year 4 | Federal debt | 2024–25 graduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science | Bachelor's Degree | $94,397 | $26,000 | Not reported |
| Civil Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $76,991 | $26,000 | Not reported |
| Mechanical Engineering | Bachelor's Degree | $76,909 | $19,971 | Not reported |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $76,296 | $23,250 | Not reported |
| Psychology, General | Bachelor's Degree | $75,059 | $19,250 | Not reported |
| Applied Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | $74,740 | Not available | Not reported |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | Bachelor's Degree | $73,971 | Not available | Not reported |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $72,700 | $21,500 | Not reported |
| History | Bachelor's Degree | $72,630 | $19,500 | Not reported |
| Biology, General | Bachelor's Degree | $71,547 | $23,000 | Not reported |
Graduate counts come from IPEDS and group related majors into the same federal field. Missing earnings or debt values remain labeled as unavailable.
Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.