Virginia Military Institute Overview

Virginia Military Institute is a public institution situated in Lexington, Virginia. The location of VMI is a good match for students who are interested in living in a college town while they pursue their degree.

What Is Virginia Military Institute Known For?

• Students at VMI have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 2%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• Although it may not be available for every major, the bachelor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at VMI.
• In 2017-2018, 100% of the faculty were full-time.
• Students who graduate from VMI with a bachelor's degree make about $65,700 a year. That's 61% more than those who graduate from other schools.
• The average VMI student graduates in 4.2 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Virginia Military Institute Rankings

According to our 2022 analysis, VMI is ranked #217 out of 2,587 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. VMI also holds the #9 spot on the Best Colleges in Virginia ranking.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

VMI has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#220	Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at VMI.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#8	Best Linguistics & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best General Biology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#10	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#12	Best General English Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#19	Best General Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#23	Best Foreign Languages & Linguistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#28	Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#35	Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#35	Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards VMI has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#17	Best General Biology Schools	College Factual
#21	Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools	College Factual
#27	Best General Psychology Schools	College Factual
#28	Best English Language & Literature Schools	College Factual
#37	Best History Schools	College Factual
#42	Best Psychology Schools	College Factual

Where Is Virginia Military Institute?

Contact details for VMI are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	Vmi Parade, Lexington, VA 24450-0304
Phone:	540-464-7207
Facebook:	https://www.facebook.com/vmi1839
Twitter:	https://twitter.com/vamilitary

How Do I Get Into VMI?

You can apply to VMI online at: www.vmi.edu/admissions-and-aid/apply/

Admission Requirements for VMI

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	recommended
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	recommended
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	neither required nor recommended

How Hard Is It To Get Into VMI?

The acceptance rate at VMI is 60%, which is a sign that the school is fairly selective. While it may not be as hard to get into as other colleges, you should not take admission for granted.

Approximately 84% of accepted students are men and 16% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 63%, and the acceptance rate for women is 48%.

Average Test Scores

About 88% of students accepted to VMI submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 640. Math scores were between 530 and 620.

VMI received ACT scores from 32% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 21 and 28. Math scores were between 21 and 27. Composite scores were between 22 and 28.

Can I Afford Virginia Military Institute?

The overall average net price of VMI is $43,887. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At VMI, approximately 57% of students took out student loans averaging $4,106 a year. That adds up to $16,424 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at VMI is 1.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Virginia Military Institute Undergraduate Student Diversity

Gender Diversity

Of the 1,698 full-time undergraduates at VMI, 87% are male and 13% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Virginia Military Institute students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	83
Black or African American	99
Hispanic or Latino	142
White	1,275
International Students	31
Other Races/Ethnicities	68

Geographic Diversity

Virginia students aren't the only ones who study at Virginia Military Institute. At this time, 36 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 7 countries are represented at VMI. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Taiwan, South Korea, and China.

Online Learning at Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	TOTAL
Civil Engineering	50	50
Economics	50	50
International Relations & National Security	50	50
History	42	42
General Psychology	39	39
General Biology	38	38
Mechanical Engineering	23	23
Computer Science	20	20
Applied Mathematics	18	18
Electrical Engineering	12	12
Physics	12	12
General English Literature	11	11
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	11	11
Chemistry	7	7
TOTAL	383	383

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Kbog under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.