“A historic Methodist-founded liberal arts college in small-town Virginia where hands-on learning and close mentorship prepare students for career and graduate success.”
Founded in 1830, Randolph-Macon College is one of the oldest continuously operating Methodist-affiliated colleges in the United States and among the most historic liberal arts institutions in Virginia. Located on a compact, tree-lined 118-acre campus in the railroad town of Ashland, about 15 miles north of Richmond, R-MC serves roughly 1,800 undergraduates who pursue a bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, or bachelor of nursing. The college is small enough that students know their professors by name (the student-to-faculty ratio is roughly 11:1) but large enough to sustain 39 majors, 40 minors, NCAA Division III athletics in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and more than 100 student organizations. Academically, R-MC is best known for its hands-on, career-focused approach. The EDGE program builds guaranteed internship, research, and study-abroad experiences into every student's four-year plan, and the SAGE program offers one-on-one career coaching from day one. Business, biology, psychology, nursing, and computer science are the most popular majors, and R-MC's computer science department is notable for being one of the oldest at a U.S. liberal arts college. The college also recently launched a graduate Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (2023) and continues to expand its health-sciences offerings. Student life at R-MC is residential and community-oriented. All students are required to live on campus (with narrow exceptions), and weekends revolve around Greek life, the Commons Activities Board, the Ring Dance, athletics (Go Yellow Jackets), and quick trips into Richmond. The college's home of Ashland bills itself as 'The Center of the Universe' and gives students a safe, walkable downtown with coffee shops, restaurants, and an Amtrak station that puts Washington, D.C. within two hours by train. Combined with Virginia's four-season climate and historic setting, R-MC offers an accessible, supportive, and distinctly Southern liberal-arts experience.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceEarly Action
Non-binding; earliest notification.
Early Decision
Binding; not available to international applicants.
Regular Decision
Rolling notifications after this date.
International (Fall entry)
Rolling review; June 15 deposit deadline.
International (Spring entry)
Rolling review; December 1 deposit deadline.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$50,574
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
R-MC's largest academic area by enrollment, offering a practical, ethics-grounded business education tightly integrated with the EDGE internship program and recruiters across Richmond's financial sector.
A strong pre-health pipeline feeding medical, dental, nursing, and physician assistant programs, with modern labs in the Copley Science Center and the newly launched Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (2023).
One of the oldest computer science departments at a U.S. liberal arts college, dating to the 1960s, with a curriculum spanning software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and AI applications.
A research-heavy major with student-faculty research starting in the first year; strong feeder into clinical, counseling, and neuroscience graduate programs.
Covers history, political science, English, communication studies, and modern languages; anchors R-MC's liberal-arts core and the SAGE career-mentoring program.
4 years
R-MC guarantees every undergraduate a funded hands-on experience — internship, faculty-mentored research, study abroad, or community project — built into their degree plan, making R-MC one of a small group of U.S. colleges to formally guarantee experiential learning.
4 years
A direct-entry nursing pathway with clinicals at Richmond-area hospitals; combines liberal-arts breadth with the clinical skills required to sit for the NCLEX-RN.
4 years
Offered by one of the oldest CS departments at any U.S. liberal arts college; small classes, integrated data-science and cybersecurity tracks, and a strong internship pipeline into Richmond and Washington, D.C. tech employers.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $49,466
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
