Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA
Liberty University is a private university in Lynchburg, Virginia, a small city, with 50,012 undergraduates. Its signature fields are interdisciplinary studies, followed by philosophy and religion: together they make up 20% of its bachelor's degrees, about six times their share across the colleges we cover. 65% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $44,813 ten years after starting.
Liberty University admitted 36,671 of 36,921 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (99.3%).
- Acceptance rate
- 99.3%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $22,465
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $29,357
- Average, students with aid
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Liberty University is known for
Measured by the 10,159 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Interdisciplinary studies
14.0%
of its bachelor's degrees: about five times the 2.9% share across the colleges we cover.
Philosophy and religion
6.0%
of its bachelor's degrees: about ten times the 0.6% share across the colleges we cover.
- Business Administration, Management and Operations1,51915.0% of degrees$67,269About the $68,257 national median
- Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies (other)1,35613.3% of degrees$53,357About the $55,693 national median
- Psychology1,13911.2% of degrees$45,340−11% vs $50,706 nationally
- Religion/Religious Studies6096.0% of degrees$47,991+16% vs $41,390 nationally
- Criminal Justice and Corrections5725.6% of degrees$61,715+11% vs $55,378 nationally
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods4874.8% of degrees$40,952−14% vs $47,382 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Small city
Lynchburg, VA
Undergraduates
50,012
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral and professional university
Living on campus
Under a quarter
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
18 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
1%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Liberty University
Three things Liberty University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Liberty University reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
The admit rate rose from 56% to 99% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.
Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023
Families paid $29,357 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
99.3%
36,671 admitted of 36,921 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Liberty University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Liberty University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $22,465, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $42,025. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $29,357 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$22,465
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$42,025
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$29,357
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $42,025 full cost.
- Under $30k$30,667Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$27,807Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$27,347Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$27,142Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$30,545Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
65%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
80%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$44,813
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$24,500
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate rose from 56% to 99%.
What Liberty University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Essayrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Test scores
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendations
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rank
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Legacy
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Virginia
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- Eastern Mennonite University99.7%
- Ferrum College100%
- Emory & Henry University96.3%
- Randolph College94.9%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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