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What Makes Radford University Unique?

A place where you're known!

Radford is more than small classes

Radford’s size creates something that is increasingly difficult to find in higher education: a comprehensive university with a personal feel. With about 7,900 students and a 14:1 student-faculty ratio, you can have the breadth of a university without becoming anonymous.

Someone notices when you show up. Someone knows your name. Someone helps you figure out what's next. 

Radford makes opportunity incredibly accessible

This may be one of Radford's strongest differentiators.  Radford combines: 

The Tuition Promise is particularly powerful because it turns affordability into a clear promise rather than a complicated financial-aid calculation for qualifying Virginia students.  

And Radford remains one of Virginia's most affordable four-year public universities; for 2025–26, its total in-state cost was reported at 13% below the Virginia public-university average.  

Radford's Carnegie designation as an Opportunity College and University: Higher Access, Higher Earnings sets us apart. 

Radford has a strong culture of "place"

But place can mean more than geography

"Find Your Place. Here." is our tagline

Find your place academically. 
Find your people. 
Find your purpose. 
Find your career. 
Find your community. 

Radford punches above its size in healthcare

Radford educates the people Southwest Virginia needs. 

That extends beyond nursing into allied health, medical laboratory science, education, social work and other workforce-critical fields. 

Radford isn't simply a university that happens to have nursing, it has become a major health-care education engine for Southwest Virginia. 

The College of Nursing reached its largest enrollment ever in 2026, and Radford awarded approximately 350 BSN degrees in 2025–26, among the largest numbers produced by Virginia's four-year public institutions. 

And the Roanoke presence creates something unusual: students can receive health-sciences education in proximity to major clinical and health-care partners, including Carilion Hospital and Lewis Gale Hospital.  

Radford connects the classroom to the real world

At Radford, your education isn't preparation for life. It's is part of life!

The Radford experience is increasingly built around doing, not simply knowing with a 94% career placement rate: 

  • clinical experiences
  • internships
  • research
  • simulation
  • experiential learning
  • community engagement
  • entrepreneurship
  • career development
  • hands-on professional preparation 

Radford is exceptionally good at transfer

Virginia's most personal transfer experience

Tartan Transfer, the largest transfer network in Virginia, creates a very different philosophy toward community-college students: their previous education isn't something they have to "start over" to explain.  Radford explicitly emphasizes making credits count and keeping students' paths on track, while Tartan Transfer gives partner-community-college students an early connection to the Radford experience. 

A traditional experience and a regional healthcare footprint

One university. Multiple pathways. Multiple places to find your future. 

Radford's 2026 enrollment has students studying across the main campus, Radford University Carilion, the Roanoke Higher Education Center and online.  

  • Radford

    • Residential undergraduate experience
    • Liberal arts + professional programs
    • Division I athletics
    • 250+ student organizations
    • Traditional campus experience

  • Roanoke

    • Health sciences
    • Clinical education
    • Working adults
    • Graduate education
    • Workforce partnerships

     

Radford has a Green Light Fire Rating

Radford is one of only 73 universities nationwide—and one of five in Virginia—to achieve a Green Light Fire Rating.

This rating is reserved for colleges and universities with no written policies that seriously threaten student speech.

 

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