Lexington, VA · Private · 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 Washington and Lee 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
$79,441
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $5,000.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Washington and Lee 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 Washington and Lee University
| Full price | $101,307 |
| After grants, at your income | $13,618 |
60% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $64,471 on average.
At this income, 5 of Virginia's other 27 colleges cost less after grants, and 22 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. Tuition and fees, housing and food, and $10,000 for a summer experience, to up to 44 incoming students a year; by application and a selection event.
Washington and Lee University's promise. The W&L Promise: full tuition without loans for students from families with typical assets earning less than $200,000 a year, from 2027-28. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Washington and Lee University, our scenarios for Virginia households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $5,200 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 Washington and Lee University says it awards for grades and test scores.
Tuition and fees, housing and food, and $10,000 for a summer experience, to up to 44 incoming students a year; by application and a selection event
“Johnson Scholarships cover tuition and fees, housing and food, and $10,000 in funding for a summer experience — a grand total of more than $89,000 per year.”
Published guarantees you may qualify for
We do not assume you qualify for any of these, and our plans never bank on them. Check each against your own situation with the aid office.
The W&L Promise: full tuition without loans for students from families with typical assets earning less than $200,000 a year, from 2027-28
Household income up to $200,000. Covers tuition. Also requires “typical assets” — a test we cannot evaluate for you.
- It starts in 2027-28. A family applies with the FAFSA and the CSS Profile by the college’s need-based aid deadline.
“Through this program, admitted students from families with typical assets earning less than $200,000 per year beginning in 2027-28 receive full tuition without loans. Students from families earning under $75,000 annually also receive support covering room and board.”
The W&L Promise: tuition, room and board for students from families earning under $75,000 a year
Household income up to $75,000. Covers tuition, housing, food.
- A family applies with the FAFSA and the CSS Profile by the college’s need-based aid deadline.
“Through this program, admitted students from families with typical assets earning less than $200,000 per year beginning in 2027-28 receive full tuition without loans. Students from families earning under $75,000 annually also receive support covering room and board.”
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 Washington and Lee 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.
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 $5,200 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Washington and Lee 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 Washington and Lee 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.
Grants from the college
How many first-year students got a grant from Washington and Lee University, and the average, are the Department of Education's figures for full-time students who started in 2023-24. They cover every income. The prices after grants already count these grants, so don't take them off again. The Department of Education's page for Washington and Lee University →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Washington and Lee University's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing and food, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% a year. 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 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 Washington and Lee University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Radford University$13,048 a year
- William & Mary$13,561 a year
- Washington and Lee University$13,618 a year
- University of Virginia$13,862 a year
- Old Dominion University$15,472 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Virginia college →