From the sandy shores of Virginia Beach to the rolling mountains of Blacksburg, Virginia offers a diverse mix of educational settings. The state is home to a variety of high quality colleges and universities, many of which are nationally known for academics and
athletics.
Virginia private colleges and universities offer a wide range of education programs with degrees and certificates up to the doctoral level, as well as professional degrees such as law and medicine. These Virginia private schools are diverse in character, academic emphasis, and origins. Some private colleges or schools have a religious affiliation; others are secular. Private colleges and universities may be profit or non-profit institutions. Typically,
Virginia independent colleges or private schools give weight to personal characteristics and activities in addition to considering GPA and test scores. While many
Virginia private schools are considerably more expensive than comparable state institutions, they also tend to offer more generous financial aid packages. Many students have found the actual out-of-pocket cost to earn a degree from a private college in Virginia to be less than the cost of the state schools to which they were accepted. On the one hand, public colleges are usually less expensive, particularly for in-state residents. They get most of their money from the state or local government. Check out your state's Guide to Residency.
Virginia private colleges rely on tuition, fees, endowments, and other private sources of funding. On the other hand, Virginia private colleges are usually smaller and can offer more personalized attention (and some believe, more prestige).
Virginia College Graduate and Undergraduate Degrees
Founded in 1971, CICV works to promote the interests of nonprofit, independent higher education in Virginia. Virginia's private colleges and universities have a long and distinguished tradition of excellence and a nationwide reputation for quality. The 25 member colleges
of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV) have played a vital role in developing the state's tradition of academic excellence.
Virginia's 25 private colleges are extremely diverse. They include:
single sex and coeducational institutions
historically black colleges
highly selective institutions
institutions which serve the average college-bound student
two year and four year institutions
graduate and professional schools
Private colleges in Virginia provide a wide variety of academic programs in supportive environments with excellent facilities. They offer outstanding faculty, small classes, and extensive interaction between professors and students. At Virginia's private colleges, the
top priority of the faculty is teaching.
Colleges and universities in Virginia have always enjoyed a certain reputation in the world of academia. That's because Virginia boasts some of the oldest, most rigorous, most successful programs in the country.
