Petersburg, VA · Public · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Virginia State University
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$83,700
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $4,200.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Virginia State University, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Virginia State University
| Full price, in state | $27,404 |
| Full price, out of state | $41,114 |
| After grants, at your income | $19,667 |
At this income, 12 of Virginia's other 27 colleges cost less after grants, and 15 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. $2,000 to $8,000 a year, from a 3.5 GPA.
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Virginia State University, our scenarios for Virginia households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $5,700 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Virginia State University says it awards for grades and test scores.
$2,000 to $8,000 a year, from a 3.5 GPA
GPA 4.0 or higher $8,000 a year Academic Excellence (Honors) Scholarship GPA 3.75 or higher $4,500 a year Orange and Blue Scholarship GPA 3.5 or higher $2,000 a year Trojan Trailblazer Scholarship The award is for first-time freshmen, by the high school GPA at the time of application; the deadline to accept the offer is May 1. To keep it, your student needs a 3.0 GPA in college. Each award is for first-time freshmen and is renewable for up to four consecutive years with 30 credits a year and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 a year. The top award needs a place in the Honors College and an active part in it. The page names no year and no GPA scale.
Enter your student's GPA in our college comparison to see this scholarship beside your family's price.
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Virginia State University reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price. Out of state, there are no grants: the price is before any scholarship from the college.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit. For a family that lives in Virginia, it also counts Virginia's tax deduction for money you put through its 529 plan.
The $5,700 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Virginia State University's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Virginia, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Virginia State University at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Virginia State University's own 2026-27 tuition and fees, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 3.0% a year. Housing, food and books are the College Scorecard's. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The out-of-state figure uses the published out-of-state tuition instead. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Virginia State University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Virginia Wesleyan University$19,192 a year
- Christopher Newport University$19,627 a year
- Virginia State University$19,667 a year
- James Madison University$19,941 a year
- Virginia Tech$20,505 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Virginia college →