Computer and Information Sciences at University of Richmond

Richmond's Computer Science program shows strong earnings—$76,763 starting out and climbing to $103,441 by year four—but these numbers come with an asterisk. The sample size is small (under 30 graduates), which means a few outliers could be skewing the picture significantly. That said, the 87th national percentile ranking suggests genuinely strong outcomes, even if the absolute numbers may not be perfectly reliable.

Within Virginia, the story is more complicated. Richmond sits in the middle of the pack at the 60th state percentile, trailing not just UVA and Virginia Tech (expected given their engineering reputations) but also VCU, JMU, and George Mason—schools with lower selectivity. At a selective private institution with an average SAT of 1474 and a 23% admission rate, you might expect Richmond to compete more closely with the state's top programs. The $23,381 in debt is manageable with these earnings levels, but it's worth asking whether the private school premium is delivering commensurate value.

The clearest takeaway: If your child is committed to Richmond for fit or other programs, the CS outcomes are solid enough not to worry about. But if they're choosing Richmond primarily for computer science and can get into a Virginia public flagship, the data suggests those programs may offer better bang for your buck—especially when you factor in lower in-state tuition on top of comparable or better earnings.