Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar, VA
Sweet Briar College is a private, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Virginia, a rural area on the edge of a city or town, with 443 undergraduates. Natural resources is its signature field: 12% of its bachelor's degrees, about ten times its share across the colleges we cover. 52% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $51,943 ten years after starting.
Sweet Briar College admitted 815 of 1,136 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (71.7%).
- Acceptance rate
- 71.7%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $26,160
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $17,758
- Average, students with aid
- ACT, middle 50%
- 21–27
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 Sweet Briar College is known for
Measured by the 73 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Natural resources
12.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about ten times the 1.2% share across the colleges we cover.
- Business/Commerce1115.1% of degrees
- Natural Resources Conservation and Research912.3% of degrees
- Biology912.3% of degrees
- Psychology912.3% of degrees
- Engineering Science68.2% of degrees
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods56.8% of degrees
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
Rural, near a city or town
Sweet Briar, VA
Undergraduates
443
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Baccalaureate college, arts and sciences focus
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
9 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
9%
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 Sweet Briar College
Two things Sweet Briar College 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.
25% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 9% sent an ACT. Sweet Briar College files test scores under “considered”.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Families paid $17,758 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
71.7%
815 admitted of 1,136 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
SAT, middle 50%
Reading 560–670Math 540–640
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
ACT, middle 50%
21–27
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
25%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
9%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Sweet Briar College?
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 Sweet Briar College costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $26,160, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $43,898. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $17,758 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$26,160
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$43,898
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$17,758
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $43,898 full cost.
- Under $30k$11,734Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$12,568Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$15,247Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$20,188Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$24,710Typical 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
52%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
69%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$51,943
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$27,000
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.
What Sweet Briar College says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Essayconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Test scoresconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- 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.
- Early DecisionNovember 1, 2026
Verified October 10, 2026 · Source
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.
- Richard Bland College71.9%
- Virginia Wesleyan University71.3%
- Hollins University70.9%
- James Madison University76.2%
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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