Bachelor's · Farmville, Virginia

Is Visual and Performing Arts, General at Longwood University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 14 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $38,882; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $47,332; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $25,595; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $88k (likely $88k – $102k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $8k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in VA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 14 years (likely 8.4–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$203k (likely −$275k – −$128k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$90k (likely −$228k – $76k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 62%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26