Access & Affordability

Access & Affordability

Our University has substantially enhanced access and supported a large increase in financial aid in the last generation. We enthusiastically welcome talented students regardless of their financial circumstances; we are one of the few colleges and universities that embraces admissions for traditional undergraduates without knowing their financial circumstances and then meets their full demonstrated financial need.

We endeavor to be even more financially accessible for Spiders at all points of the income and wealth distribution. We will ensure that individuals and families at all levels of financial need see Richmond’s undergraduate and graduate education as not only excellent, but affordable.

We will accelerate our efforts for all of our students to have access to the abundance of opportunities at our University and be able to participate in them regardless of their financial background.

Through continued careful stewardship and additional philanthropic support, the University of Richmond will be more accessible and more affordable for more Spiders.

To improve access and affordability, we will:

Raise and allocate significant additional resources toward financial aid

  • Substantially increase support for students from middle-income families while continuing to provide increasingly generous scholarships for other talented undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate need
  • Invest in additional aid to international students to address the additional costs that students experience in seeking their education so far from home
Two male students walk across campus, one is smiling at the camera and giving a thumbs up.

Simplify our financial aid system, thus making it easier for prospective students and their families to know how affordable a University of Richmond education is

  • Provide (and enhance existing) mechanisms for families to understand the cost of a University of Richmond education and all of the opportunities that are available to Spiders
  • Explore opportunities to implement a less complex financial aid model
Students shop for books at the campus bookstore.

Ensure that University of Richmond students take full advantage of our many opportunities and that financial background is not a barrier to engaging in university life

  • Consider ways to reduce the cost to students of textbooks and educational materials
  • Implement strategies that help ensure equity of access to the full range of opportunities available at the University of Richmond
  • Enhance advising on financial planning and financial literacy

Through continued careful stewardship and additional philanthropic support, the University of Richmond will be more accessible and more affordable for more Spiders.