Washington & Lee

Washington and Lee University is an elite liberal arts college in western Virginia. W&L, founded in 1749, describes its approach as "innovative," "flexible," and "relevant." Their admission rate is about twice that of many similarly-ranked colleges.

Affordability: W&L meets 100% of demonstrated need without student loans. In theory, then, W&L is affordable for any student admitted. They are one of the few no-loan schools that also offer merit aid. According to NCES data, most students do not take out loans; however, the portion that do is higher than at other no-loan schools (17% of freshman borrowed an average of $12,473 in 2020-21). 

Rankings: 

• #11 liberal arts colleges, U.S. News

• #26 colleges and universities, CollegeSimply

• #10 best liberal arts colleges, Niche

Popular Majors (NCES):

• Business 

• Economics 

• Political Science 

• Accounting 

• Research Psychology 

Students, Admissions, enrollment, graduation rates (NCES):

• 1,857 undergraduate students; 381 graduate students

• 19% acceptance rate

• 39% enrolled

• 94% graduation rate