Which Virginia State major has the lowest debt?

Biology graduates leave with a median of $26,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 11 Virginia State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Virginia State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $10,043 a year, and $22,650 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $15,840 a year.

How many Virginia State programs report graduate pay?

11 bachelor's programs at Virginia State report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Virginia State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Virginia State University
Public university
Petersburg, VA
5,074 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

11 Virginia State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Mechanical Engineering Technology pays the most in the first year ($65,472), and Communications the least ($23,897). The median program pays $30,480.

In-state tuition and fees$10,043Per year. Out-of-state $22,650

Average net price after aid$15,840Per year

Graduation rate39%Within 6 years

Admission rate89%Of applicants

All 11 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Virginia. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Virginia
1	Mechanical Engineering TechnologyAbout 20 graduates a year	$65,472	$78,831	$27,500	1st of 1
2	AccountingAbout 18 graduates a year	$46,688	Not reported	$27,000	12th of 14
3	Computer and Information ScienceGraduates a year not reported	$35,746	Not reported	$26,500	13th of 14
4	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 14 graduates a year	$34,877	$49,029	$31,000	10th of 11
5	Criminal JusticeAbout 68 graduates a year	$34,604	$46,108	$30,000	14th of 15
6	Business AdministrationAbout 51 graduates a year	$30,480	Not reported	$27,000	27th of 28
7	Social WorkAbout 20 graduates a year	$28,527	$50,442	$31,000	8th of 8
8	PsychologyAbout 76 graduates a year	$28,513	$50,956	$27,000	23rd of 26
9	BiologyAbout 29 graduates a year	$28,169	Not reported	$26,000	22nd of 25
10	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 41 graduates a year	$26,547	$42,669	$30,000	8th of 8
11	CommunicationsAbout 49 graduates a year	$23,897	$45,992	$28,000	13th of 14

Program names link to the program's own page, and Virginia ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Virginia programs in the field do too.

6 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Mechanical Engineering Technology$65,472
Accounting$46,688
Computer and Information Science$35,746
Liberal Arts and General Studies$34,877
Criminal Justice$34,604

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

PsychologyAbout 76 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 68 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 51 graduates a year
CommunicationsAbout 49 graduates a year
Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 41 graduates a year

Common questions

Mechanical Engineering Technology graduates earn a median of $65,472 in their first year, the most of 11 Virginia State bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Virginia rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels