Rate this HBCU Day 34: Virginia State University

[DrBanneker]

Last week we reviewed the outstanding Spelman College that crushed the buildings with a new top rating of 9.8. That's going to be a hard act to follow.

See the updated leaderboard here

Virginia State University is one of the early land grant schools founded by states for Black students. As chronicled earlier, the Second Morrill Act (1890) for land grant colleges required the colleges to either be integrated or separate land grant colleges set up for the benefit of Blacks. Virginia State was established before the Morrill Act by the legislature but eventually benefited from land grant status. Located near Richmond in Petersburg, VSU is a well recognized HBCU and has some of the most outstanding alumni for a public HBCU.

Virginia State's founding was a unique circumstance in a very narrow window of time for post-Reconstruction Virginia politics. Between 1880-1884, the dominant White Democrats lost control of the state to the Readjuster Party--a coalition of White and Black Virginians who opposed the historic planter elites and wanted to reduce state debt. Many liberal reforms such as the end of the poll tax, staffing of Black public schools with Black teachers and the founding of Virginia State were accomplished in this period. Federal land grant funds originally were allocated to Hampton but later went to VSU as a public institution.


Founded: 1882

City, State: Petersburg, VA

Type: 4-Year, Public

Nickname: Trojans

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 4,300 (3,899 undergraduate), 93% Black

Part-time student percentage: 6%

First Generation Student Percentage: 34%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 48% / 8%

Out of State Percentage: 37%

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 13:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: 96%

4-yr/6-yr graduation rates: 31% / 48%

Transfer out rate: 27%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 40% male/60% female (1.5:1)

Tuition: In-state: $9k, Out-of-state: $21k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $27k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $20k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $42k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Mechanical Engineering: $60k, Business Administration: $41k, Liberal Arts: $40k, Psychology: $40k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Busines Administration, Psychology, Communications, Criminal Justice, Biology, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering

Endowment: ~$50-60M (including $30M from MacKenzie Scott)

Alumni Engagement: 4% alumni giving rate

Athletic Conference: CIAA (NCAA Div II)

Mascot: Trojans

Main Campus

College of Engineering

Rogers Stadium

VSU Multipurpose Center (Basketball/Volleyball Gym)

VSU Trojan Explosion Marching Band







Virginia State University Woo Woos

Trojan Fire Dance Team

Miss Virginia State University

@Easy-E @VirginiaSlim75 @murksiderock @darkmanp @The Devil's Advocate
@ab.aspectus @Originalman @#1 pick @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Willie Lump Lump @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

 

[DrBanneker]

Notable Alumni:

Reginald Lewis - businessman and first Black American billionaire

Herman Branson - chemist, co-discoverer of protein alpha helix structure and frequently rumored (along with Robert Corey) to have been overlooked for the Nobel Prize

Al Stewart - Deputy Secretary of Labor and former acting Secretary of Labor

Pamela Bridgewater - US Ambassador to Jamaica and Ghana

Gladys West - mathematician and pioneer of satellite geodesy calculations underlying GPS systems

Das EFX (attended) - rappers

 

[AggiePride336.]

@Apprentice didn’t you go here?

 

[get these nets]

Great info
Relatively good completion rates, especially since they are nearly open enrollment. Speaks well of their Academic Advisors and support.
Reginald Lewis' family still contributes, and sets up career/entrepreneur pipelines for VSU, and that's a big asset to the school.

 

[SupaVillain]

6, decent school, dope alumni. I’d recommend every read Reginald Lewis’s story. It’s so inspiring, especially if you are into self made success stories. Band is straight, but the campus is kinda ugly imo. Heard it was a lit party school

 

[Apprentice]

@Apprentice didn’t you go here?

Yessir, much love to Big State, they took care of me for 2 years and I’m highly appreciative of the school

They take care of they students, campus is beautiful, and the school is just lit in general

 

[AggiePride336.]

That endowment is decent, and the graduation rates are pretty good. Did not know they offered engineering programs, but it makes sense, as most state schools offer engineering (Miss State, NC State, etc).

I heard for the longest this was a party school. If that’s true, I know they have a good time when they all get back together for homecomings.

 

[MostReal]

Very solid on the humble

 

[Jaylen Tatum]

My niece attends.

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

shyt is right around the corner and I've only been for Covid shots


The broads at the WaWa are flawless every time I go in there though

 

[Rollie Forbes]

How in the world did I miss THIS thread? I was patiently waiting to cast my vote for the CIAA's best school and Virginia's top academic institution.
We'd be here all day if I listed every person who is a notable alum/attendee of THE Virginia State University, but here are a few that you can add to the official list, @DrBanneker:
-James Avery (Rest in peace, Uncle Phil),
-Wale,
-Comedienne LouLou Gonzalez,
-Samuel DeWitt Proctor,
-Coli Hall of Famer, Rollie Forbes
-Former NFL player Kelvin Kinney,
-Boogiemonsters

Spoiler

I second @Apprentice's point about the faculty and staff at VSU taking care of the students. I can honestly say that they take a vested interest in the students, and are almost always willing to offer advice, support, and encouragement.
Hail State!

 

[Smokee Robinson]

Was a school I was interested in. Heard good things

 

[Easy-E]

My School. So many memories.

Finding a condom on my fukking windshield

Losing $50 in a basketball game cause my pride got the best of me

This was the year after College Hill; so, I saw Kevin Love, Alicia Keys...I actually went to the high school with Rodney...and the other brother that go all the girls

Today, the school looks 1,000x times better than when I went (Class of '10)

School was ghetto as fukk The reason I never stayed in a dorm was because they fukked up my papers and I had to register hella late

The neighborhood around the school feels like a ghost town, but, they expanded and knocked down those houses and built the school

Wish I could've went with expanded parking...parked at the barbershop and them lil kids threw a brick at my rear windshield

Don't get me started

Had shytty roommates--this nikka always got killed fukking with somebody girl and a breh followed him into our apartment looking nervous as fukk--I'm 100% sure he had a gun on him

fukk ya'll taking my back

I remember going to a RIchmond hotel to watch my Saints beat the Vikings in the NFC Championship game---I stayed OUTTA Richmond

Went maybe three times in 4 years

 

[Easy-E]

I second @Apprentice's point about the faculty and staff at VSU taking care of the students. I can honestly say that they take a vested interest in the students, and are almost always willing to offer advice, support, and encouragement.
Hail State!

Don't tell me you went to VSU?

My favorite professor was Dr. Walton...she was mean as hell, but, I respected the fukk outta her

Another professor, Dr. Parsons-Pollard was big for me throughout my time in the Crim Jus program

 

[Rollie Forbes]

Don't tell me you went to VSU?

My favorite professor was Dr. Walton...she was mean as hell, but, I respected the fukk outta her

Another professor, Dr. Parsons-Pollard was big for me throughout my time in the Crim Jus program