Virginia Wesleyan College

An inclusive community dedicated to scholarship and service grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, Virginia Wesleyan University inspires students to build meaningful lives through engagement in Coastal Virginia's dynamic metropolitan region, the nation, and the world.

Virginia Wesleyan University is Coastal Virginia's premier university of the liberal arts and sciences. Situated on a 300-acre park-like campus in Virginia Beach, the University annually enrolls approximately 1,500 students in undergraduate, graduate, and online programs.

Undergraduate degrees include a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Social Work with 35 majors, 30 minors, and seven pre-professional programs. Graduate degrees include a Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in Education. Students thrive in average class sizes of 13 and through the University's experiential learning, high-impact leadership, and career-development programs. More than 90 percent of Wesleyan’s new graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within one year. The state-of-the-art Greer Environmental Sciences Center, Chesapeake Bay Academy, Tidewater Collegiate Academy, and other outstanding facilities and programs serve a vibrant campus community and regional partners in education. In accordance with its United Methodist heritage, the University aspires to be a supportive community that is committed to social responsibility, ethical conduct, higher learning and religious freedom.

A passion for education, a career in business leadership, and a lifetime of philanthropic devotion combine to create The Batten Honors College of Virginia Wesleyan University. Gratefully named for Trustee Emerita and dedicated friends of the institution Jane P. and Frank Batten, Sr., the Honors College celebrates the unique and vibrant intellectual journeys of selected students. Benefiting from small-class, personalized instruction and especially vigorous faculty-student interaction, The Batten Honors College serves the special academic aspirations of students. Establishment of the Honors College coincides with academic innovation, construction of the new state-of-the-art environmental sciences center, and increased regional and national outreach at Virginia Wesleyan. All students at the institution benefit from these and other initiatives. Through an undertaking of a joyful and rigorous course of reading, analysis, and conversation, students at The Batten Honors College who bring a common passion for learning will have special opportunities to pursue individual excellence.

University College of Virginia Wesleyan University serves evening, weekend, online, early enrollment/advanced scholars, non-degree-seeking, and non-credit learners. Fully integrated with Virginia Wesleyan's excellent curriculum, University College coordinates recruitment, enrollment and support services across the University to promote the following opportunities for non-traditional students.

Virginia Wesleyan University’s Career Development and Internship Program (CDIP) is dedicated to assisting students to discover their academic and professional pathways and to create plans to achieve their professional goals. We offer an array of resources, one-on-one career counseling sessions, customized programming, and internship and externship opportunities to facilitate meaningful career development. Our staff assists students at all levels, from first-year students exploring career options to seniors preparing for post-college employment. We also offer assistance to alumni.

If you would like to study away internationally or domestically, The Lighthouse is here to help you. Our Study Away Program provides advising and financial assistance to prepare students to study away and to translate their study away experiences into personal success.

The Lighthouse supports both semester study abroad in a wide array of countries and Virginia Wesleyan’s own study away courses, taught by VWU faculty.

Virginia Wesleyan University has a diverse student body which is comprised of students from different ethnic backgrounds from the U.S. as well as students from several different countries. In fact, U.S. News & World Report ranks VWU as the 20th most ethnically diverse national liberal arts institution in the country. The University provides students from foreign countries a home away from home for four years. Virginia Wesleyan University offers services and activities to assist international students with their transition to college life in the United States. In recent years, Virginia Wesleyan has enrolled students from Bulgaria, Korea, Germany, Trinidad, Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Canada, Northern Cyprus, Brazil, France, Australia, Mexico, Ukraine, and China.

Financial Aid sources of funding that can help students and their families pay for college expenses. Grants and scholarships are sources of funding that do not require repayment; whereas, loans are sources of funding that need to be repaid. Work study money is earned by students at an hourly rate.

Chartered in 1961, Virginia Wesleyan College first opened its doors to students in 1966. The concept for the College actually began two years earlier as an idea of Methodist minister Joseph S. Johnston. It would be a four-year, private college - the first of its kind in South Hampton Roads.

Within two years of planning, the school had a name, a charter, and an expanding body of supporters from the United Methodist Church and the regional business community. The College received full accreditation in its first year of eligibility, enjoyed steady enrollment gains, and attained membership in the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.

Virginia Wesleyan campus has grown rapidly in recent years with new and exciting facilities, including high-tech classrooms, the one-of-a-kind Jane P. Batten Student Center and a variety of new programs. Since its first graduating class in 1970 of approximately 75 pioneering students, the VWU community has grown to include approximately 1,500 students (1,300 full-time) and 10,000 alumni.

With the addition of graduate programs, an online division, the Batten Honors College, two campus based academies, and the state-of-the-art Greer Environmental Sciences Center, Virginia Wesleyan transitioned to University status in 2017.