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Washington and Lee University Data & Information Overview

450 awards Ranking Badges
19% Acceptance Rate
0% Student Loan Default Rate
Get the facts about Washington and Lee University. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more.
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How Well Is Washington and Lee University Ranked?

#83 Best Colleges in Nation
#3 Best Colleges in VA
Accounting Highest Ranked Major
Quality Badge

2024 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

Washington and Lee University was awarded 450 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is accounting.

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Overall Quality

Washington and Lee is ranked #83 out of 2,217 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2024 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. This is an improvement over the previous year, when Washington and Lee held the #103 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

Washington and Lee also holds the #3 spot on the Best Colleges in Virginia ranking.

See all of the rankings for Washington and Lee University.

Is It Hard to Get Into Washington and Lee?

19% Acceptance Rate
54% Of Accepted Are Women
26% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

Even if you have the best grades and high test scores, that may not be enough to get into Washington and Lee since the school has one of the most selective in the country. Its acceptance rate is a mere 19%, so there's no shame if you don't get in. Be sure to apply to other schools just in case.

Average Test Scores

About 26% of students accepted to Washington and Lee submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 700 and 750. Math scores were between 710 and 780.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Washington and Lee University  ( 700 to 750 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Washington and Lee University  ( 710 to 780 )
200
800
Washington and Lee received ACT scores from 32% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 32 and 35.

ACT Composite Scores for Washington and Lee University  ( 32 to 35 )
1
36

Learn more about Washington and Lee University admissions.

Washington and Lee University Faculty

8 to 1 Student to Faculty
77% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Washington and Lee is an impressive 8 to 1. That's quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Washington and Lee University is 77%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  77 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Washington and Lee University

96% Freshmen Retention
92% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

Washington and Lee University has a freshmen retention rate of 96%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  96 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at Washington and Lee for first-time, full-time students is 92%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  92 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Washington and Lee University.

Washington and Lee University Undergraduate Student Diversity

1,821 Full-Time Undergraduates
17.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
51.0% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 1,822 undergraduates at Washington and Lee with 1,821 being full-time and 1 being part-time.

How Much Does Washington and Lee University Cost?

$26,175 Net Price
17% Take Out Loans
$49,892 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of Washington and Lee is $26,175. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for Washington and Lee

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$205 $850 $6,505 $13,860 $42,003

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Washington and Lee, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Washington and Lee, approximately 17% of students took out student loans averaging $12,473 a year. That adds up to $49,892 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Washington and Lee is 0.4%. 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.

Get more details about paying for Washington and Lee University.

How Much Money Do Washington and Lee Graduates Make?

$86,020 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor's degree recipients from Washington and Lee make around $86,020 per year during the early years of their employment. That's great news for Washington and Lee students since it is 102% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at Washington and Lee University make the most money.

Location of Washington and Lee University

Virginia State
1,821 Full-Time Undergraduates
Town Campus Setting
Located in Lexington, Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a private not-for-profit institution. Lexington is a great place for students who enjoy small town life.

Get more details about the location of Washington and Lee University.

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Contact details for Washington and Lee are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA 24450-2116
Phone: 540-458-8400
Website: www.wlu.edu/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/washingtonandlee
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wlulex

Washington and Lee University Majors

34 Majors With Completions
585 Undergraduate Degrees
118 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 34 majors graduated from Washington and Lee University. Of these students, 585 received undergraduate degrees and 118 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Business Administration & Management 98 $56,231
Economics 63 $51,643
Political Science & Government 59 $47,231
Accounting 46 NA
History 27 NA
Child Development & Psychology 25 NA
General English Literature 20 NA
General Biology 19 NA
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 16 NA
Romance Languages 16 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Washington and Lee University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Learn more about online learning at Washington and Lee University.

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*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.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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