There’s no one type of student here, and VCU prides itself on its warm and welcoming environment. Combine that with the wide array of academic programs, hundreds of student organizations and countless opportunities to get real-world experience, and you have a place where students can be themselves or figure out who they want to be.

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With its urban setting in one of the South’s coolest cities, VCU’s campus is an exciting place to be. Classes, gyms, shops, restaurants, museums, parks, music venues. They’re all within a few blocks. Security is important in our urban environment, and VCU’s nationally recognized police department is one of the largest university forces in the country. 

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We want your student to succeed as much as you do. We have services in place to help students stay on track, graduate in four years and find a job after graduation.

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Get out your day planner, set up a reminder on your phone or tie a string around your finger. You’ll want to mark down important dates and deadlines — plus check out VCU events you or your student may be interested in attending.

• First-year and transfer student deadlines
• New Student Orientation
• Academic calendar
• Family events
• Registration
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Undergraduate tuition and fees for 2023-24 are $16,233 (in state) and $38,817 (out of state). A college education is an investment — one of the best you can make. But we know it’s a big financial step. That’s why we provide resources to help make college affordable.

• Tuition and fees
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We encourage parents and families to take an active role in the university and to partner with us in fostering student success. Attending Family and Supporter Orientation during New Student Orientation is a great first step and by completing our online Ram Ready Orientation Modules you will have access to the same content your students will see in their program, as well as bonus content tailored just for families and supporters. We also recommend following our Parent and Family blog, which will help you stay connected to the VCU community, and signing up for our monthly Ram Family Update newsletter.

• Family and Supporter Orientation
• Parent and Family Blog
• Ram Family Update newsletter

VCU follows guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and offers resources and information on COVID-19 at srm.vcu.edu/health-advisories. Resources such as free testing, vaccines and public health supplies are available to students to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. While not required, VCU strongly encourages COVID-19 vaccination and boosters. 

VCU is committed to providing a safe and secure learning, living and working environment, and its award-winning police department is one of the largest university forces in the U.S. Students and their families are encouraged to learn more about VCU’s safety, preparedness and wellness programs and to use tools such as VCU Alert and the LiveSafe app to stay informed and take an active role in campus safety.

VCU offers a wide range of on-campus residence options, including theme floors and residence halls. The university is nestled among several historic residential neighborhoods with plenty of apartments for rent within walking distance of campus, and Off Campus Student Services can assist students with their housing search.

VCU hosts a variety of dining options on campus, starting with Market 810 in the Shafer Court Dining Center. Students have a number of dining plans to consider.

RamBucks are prepaid dollars stored in an account that is part of a VCU student’s ID card. They can be used to make purchases on and off campus at participating retailers and also to pay for things like Pay4Print services on campus. You can make deposits to RamBucks accounts online, at a VCUCard office or at one of several other locations on campus.

VCU provides parking for more than 7,000 students each semester; however, residential freshmen are not allowed to have cars. All other students can purchase parking permits for on-campus or off-campus lots on a per-semester basis. Bikes are another preferred method of transportation, and VCU provides more than 200 spots to park your wheels. And because of VCU’s convenient location, most students who live in residence halls don’t bring their cars to campus at all.

University Student Health Services offers clinical services — including primary care — and pharmacy services for students with clinics on both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses. In addition, Recreation and Well-Being provides an array of services and resources to promote a healthy lifestyle.

University Counseling Services offers comprehensive psychological services. UCS creates an environment that fosters student growth, development and psychological well-being through direct clinical service, education and prevention. In addition, VCU is a JED Campus. The JED Campus program is designed to identify opportunities to enhance emotional health as well as substance abuse and suicide prevention efforts on campus in order to ensure that schools have the strongest possible mental health safety nets.

VCU’s Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity works to help create a learning environment in which all students have equal access to the university’s programs, services and activities. Students with disabilities are responsible for self-identification prior to requesting services and can present documentation to their campus coordinator.

VCU has joined a statewide effort to combat sexual violence on university campuses and has also established the Office of Equity and Access Services that further strengthens our Title IX compliance and educational efforts. Students are required to take online training to learn about sexual violence, bystander intervention and risk-reduction strategies. They are encouraged to be familiar with VCU’s interim policy on sex-based misconduct and interim policy on Title IX sexual harassment. Additional resources are available at equity.vcu.edu/title-ix.

A wide range of extracurricular organizations exist at VCU. Student Leadership and Engagement helps students find information about existing organizations and how to form new ones.

Career Services provides support for students and recent alumni in the career development process. The office offers career counseling, a resource library and employment assistance, including help building a resume, searching for jobs, pursuing internships and arranging interviews.

A number of retailers in the Richmond area and beyond stock VCU-related gear such as shirts, hats and memorabilia. The official on-campus location for VCU gear is the Barnes and Noble @ VCU official bookstore.

Bane Woodacre, M. E., and Bane, S. (2006). I’ll Miss You Too. An Off-to-College Guide for Parents and Students. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.

Coburn, K. L., and Treeger, M. L. (2009). Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the College Years. 5th ed. New York: Harper.

Delahunty, J. (2010). I’m Going to College — Not You! Surviving the College Search with Your Child. New York: St. Martin’s.

Hofer, B. K. and Moore, A.S. (2010). The iConnected Parent: Staying Close to Your Kids in College (and Beyond) While Letting Them Grow Up. New York: Simon & Schuster.