You’re part of the Ramily, too
Families and supporters are a huge part of our students’ success. Here are some of the ways you can help your student through a time of changes, challenges, and accomplishments big and small.
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Prospective students
Accepted students
Current students
We’re here for you
VCU may be a big place, but it’s far from nameless and faceless. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, get in touch!
Families of prospective students should call Undergraduate Admissions at (804) 828-1222, email ugrad@bdkc.net or visit our Admissions website. Parents of current or newly admitted students should email newrams@bdkc.net or visit VCU Families.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 roughly 1,200 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 the Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy - Interim and Sex-Based Misconduct Policy - Interim. Additional resources are available at equity.bdkc.net/title-ix.
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.