Virginia Military Institute vs Liberty University

Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Liberty University stand as distinct beacons of higher education, each offering unique opportunities and experiences to their students. VMI, a public institution with a storied history dating back to 1839, is renowned for its rigorous military training and strong emphasis on leadership development. Liberty University, on the other hand, is a private Christian university founded in 1971, known for its strong commitment to faith-based education and its diverse student body. While both institutions share a commitment to academic excellence, they differ significantly in terms of acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	Liberty University	Virginia Military Institute
Overview
Location	Lynchburg, Virginia	Lexington, Virginia
Campus setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	79.0%	87.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation	Evangelical

Admission
Acceptance rate	99.3%	63.9%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $50	$40
SAT range	N/A	1080 - 1300
ACT range	N/A	22 - 27
Students submitting SAT score		29.0%
Students submitting ACT score		12.0%
Total number of applicants	28,448	1,549
Total number of admissions given out	28,244	990
Admitted students who chose to enroll	5,461	461
Yield rate	19.3%	46.6%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$42,620	In state: $33,182 Out of state: $61,836
Average net price	$27,891	$18,100
Tuition	$21,663	In state: $9,782 Out of state: $38,436
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $6,150 Meal plan: $4,560	Room/dormitory: $3,102 Meal plan: $7,260
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	89.0% Average amount $12,431	91.0% Average amount $10,832
Students receiving federal student loan	52.0% Average amount $5,619	59.0% Average amount $3,385
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $17,351	11.0% Average amount $22,604

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	47,696 Men 43.0% Women 57.0%	1,652 Men 86.2% Women 13.8%
Graduate students	47,013 Men 38.7% Women 61.3%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	76.0%	38.2%
International students	0.7%	1.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	8,222	1,751
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Virginia North Carolina Pennsylvania Texas Florida	Virginia Pennsylvania Maryland North Carolina New Jersey

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Business Health Professions Psychology Theology	Engineering Social Sciences Psychology Biological and Biomedical Sciences History
Students to faculty ratio	17:1	10:1
Institutional accreditation	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	62.1%	73.7%
Dropout rate	30.2%	4.4%
Transferred out	5.6%	21.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $84,316 Year 2: $62,012 Year 3: $91,964 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $80,385 Year 2: $80,964 Year 3: $87,831 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $52,657 Year 2: $68,219 Year 3: $77,205 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,410 Year 2: $72,022 Year 3: $73,900 Management Information Systems and Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,556 Year 2: $51,106 Year 3: $65,313 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $63,731 Year 2: $62,936 Year 3: $64,580 Business/Commerce, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $44,576 Year 2: $57,705 Year 3: $62,807 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $60,423 Year 2: $57,714 Year 3: $62,225 Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $40,885 Year 2: $56,415 Year 3: $62,169 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $58,240 Year 2: $59,895 Year 3: $61,052	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,118 Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $60,559 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,215 Year 2: $44,942 Year 3: $59,186 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,030 Year 2: $49,270 Year 3: $57,955 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,302 Year 2: $39,305 Year 3: $55,311 History (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,325 Year 2: $45,094 Year 3: $55,205 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,487 Year 2: $38,649 Year 3: $52,930 Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,025 Year 2: $39,909 Year 3: $52,845 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,712 Year 2: $41,007 Year 3: $43,814 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $43,367 Year 2: $64,493 Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $39,671 Year 2: $46,087 Year 3: N/A

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Virginia Military Institute vs Liberty University

Liberty University

Virginia Military Institute

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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