University of Mary Washington

Public · Moderately Selective · VA

Photo: Kenneth Hawes (CC BY-SA 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationVA · South

SettingSuburban

Undergrads3,566

Student:faculty13:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate57.4%

6-yr grad rate66.4%

Drop-out rate15.6%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$15k

Out-of-state tuition$28k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity40.7%

Gender diversity64.1%

International2.7%

Identity—

Overview

The University of Mary Washington is Virginia's public liberal-arts college, set on a brick-and-columns campus in Fredericksburg, roughly halfway between Richmond and Washington, D.C. It functions at a small-college scale within the state system, built around a traditional liberal arts core rather than the professional-school breadth of Virginia's larger publics.

Academics

Historic preservation is UMW's signature program, one of the oldest of its kind in the country, drawing on Fredericksburg's own dense concentration of colonial and Civil War-era sites. Strong humanities departments, including history, English, and political science, support that specialty, and the college more broadly emphasizes small seminar-style classes and close faculty contact over lecture-hall instruction.

Campus & student life

The historic campus sits within walking distance of Fredericksburg's colonial downtown, giving students a walkable small-city backdrop rather than an isolated quad. A student-run honor system, long a defining feature, governs academic and social conduct and is taken seriously as part of campus identity. Athletics compete at the Division III level, so sports are a campus activity rather than a spectator draw.

Getting in

Applications are reviewed holistically, with essays and a demonstrated interest in the liberal arts model carrying real weight. UMW draws students specifically seeking a small-college experience at public-school cost, and admissions readers look for fit with that mission as much as raw academic numbers.

After graduation

Graduates commonly move into education, government and public policy work in the nearby D.C. corridor, and history and preservation-adjacent careers, including museums, archives, and cultural resource management, that draw directly on the historic preservation program's regional connections.

umw.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate79.8%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1170–1370 · ACT 27–31

Test policyoptional

Rec letters1

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 15

Regular decisionFeb 1

Applying