Liberty University review: lowest total bill here, with a record Clery fine on the public file

Our verdict

Liberty University is our #3 pick in online degrees for October 2026, scoring 7.5 out of 10 against our weighted rubric. Entry pricing starts at $410/credit hour, 2026-27 full-time online undergraduate rate at 12 or more hours; part time is $475, plus a $349 technology fee each semester, and the highlights below are the specific findings that moved the score.

Lowest total bill here, with a record Clery fine on the public file.

The trade-off. Dropping to 11 hours reprices every credit to $475. A $349 technology fee hits each semester, withdrawal costs $50, and the Department of Education's 2024 Clery settlement was a record $14 million. That is the single factor most likely to change whether this is the right pick for you, so we surface it next to the price rather than at the bottom of the page.

Pros and cons

What you get

• Online undergraduate tuition is $410 per credit hour at 12 or more hours, $475 below that, and $250 for military students.
• Required electronic course materials are free for online undergraduates, and the application fee is no longer applied as of mid-September 2026.
• Liberty accepts up to 75 percent of an undergraduate degree as transfer credit and asks for no standardized test scores for admission.

Pricing breakdown

Advertised rates verified on 23 September 2026. Always confirm on the vendor’s own pricing page before buying.

Source: Liberty University published pricing.

Liberty University in depth: setup, features, performance and price

A full breakdown of usability, core features, pros and cons, performance, pricing and payment, and how useful Liberty University is in real use, written by the test desk that scored it.

Getting in is easy; the paperwork after admission is not optional

Liberty University asks for no standardized test, and its online degrees page says an undergraduate can transfer in up to 75 percent of a degree. The application fee has been dropped: the 2026-27 online catalog lists $50 but notes it is no longer applied to student accounts as of mid-September 2026.

The step people miss is Financial Check-In. Liberty requires new students to complete it before registering, and the same catalog page lists a $150 late fee per semester if you do not. Courses run in eight-week terms, and the refund schedule below is built around that clock. The first assignment matters for refunds, as the schedule below shows. We did not enroll, so we cannot describe the classroom experience itself.

$410 a credit, with one trap in the middle

The tuition page lists 2026-27 online undergraduate tuition at $410 per credit hour full time and $475 part time, with military students at $250. Full time means 12 or more hours in a semester. There is also a $349 technology fee per semester, waived for active-duty military and their spouses.

Here is the trap. Drop to 11 hours and every hour reprices at $475, so 11 credits cost $5,225 while 12 cost $4,920. You pay more to take less. Anyone juggling a job should plan for 12 or accept the part-time rate knowingly.

The best feature of the plan is what it leaves out. The catalog says online undergraduates receive required electronic course materials at no cost, because the $38-per-hour Inclusive Access fee is waived for them. Graduate students are not so lucky: Liberty estimates $716 a year for books and online content. On our arithmetic, 120 credits at $410 plus a technology fee for ten semesters of 12 hours comes to about $52,700. That is our figure, not Liberty's.

What is missing: the $50 withdrawal fee per semester, the $100 degree completion application, a $50 fee for each payment plan, and a $35 charge for a failed payment. None is large, and none changes the ranking, but they are the reason to budget a few hundred dollars above the headline.

It is the cheapest honest sticker in this group

Set Liberty beside the others on a per-credit basis and the gap is wide. Arizona State University lists $580 per credit before fees and no textbooks. Colorado Christian University charges $494 plus $51 technology and $20 course materials per credit, which makes $565. The University of Arizona Global Campus charges $460 per credit plus $115 technology and about $125 materials per course, which we put near $540 per credit assuming three-credit courses.

Purdue Global quotes $371 per quarter credit hour on its tuition page. A quarter credit is two thirds of a semester credit, so the semester equivalent is about $557, plus $345 a term. Liberty is the cheapest on every comparison we ran, unless you qualify for Purdue Global's Indiana rate or military pricing.

Transfer policy also helps. Taking up to 75 percent of a degree from elsewhere can cut that $52,700 sharply.

Where it loses, and who should walk away

Outcomes and credential weight. The College Scorecard entry for Liberty shows a 44 percent graduation rate and 49 percent of students withdrawing within eight years. That figure covers the whole university, residential and online combined, so it is not a clean online number. Still, it sits well below the 68 percent Arizona State University reports. If you want the strongest name on the diploma and can afford the extra, buy Arizona State.

Student conduct is the second loss. Liberty is a Christian school with a student code, and its conduct record is covered in the next section. We did not verify whether online degrees carry required Bible courses; the catalog for your program will say.

Price stability is the third. Liberty says on its online overview page that rates may change annually. Colorado Christian University states that undergraduate tuition is guaranteed for up to six years with continued progress, though the same page also says tuition and fees may change without notice, so read the exact terms before you rely on it. If you will take six or seven years to finish part time, the guarantee may matter more than Liberty's lower rate.

Refunds, withdrawal fees and a $14 million record

The online refund schedule for eight-week courses is steep. According to the financial policy page, you get 100 percent back if you withdraw in the first week before submitting the first assignment, 75 percent through the end of week two, 50 percent through week four, 25 percent through week six, and nothing after. A student who stops attending without withdrawing officially is charged full tuition and fees. Withdrawal also costs $50 per semester.

The public record matters more here than at any other brand in our top three. The U.S. Department of Education fined Liberty $14 million under the Clery Act in March 2024, the largest fine ever levied under that law. The Associated Press reports the department found misclassified or underreported crimes between 2016 and 2023, and that sexual offenses were often treated as unfounded without evidence that the report was false. The department also said some victims were punished under the student code while assailants were not.

Liberty's own response page acknowledges incorrect statistical reports and warnings that were not sent, disputes the department's methods, describes a two-year monitoring period and says it has spent more than $10 million on improvements since 2022. The Clery Act concerns campus safety. Most online students never set foot in Lynchburg. We think it still belongs in the file, because it measures how the institution responds when a student reports harm.

Verdict

Buy Liberty if the total bill is the deciding factor, if you work full time and can commit to 12 credits a semester or transfer in a lot of credit, and if a Christian institution suits you. Free course materials and no application fee are real savings at this price.

Do not buy it if you want the most recognized diploma, if your schedule will force part-time semesters at $475, or if conduct and reporting records weigh heavily in your decision. Ask the admissions office for the program-specific sheet, for the part-time rate in writing, and for the date of your first refund cutoff before you commit.

Frequently asked questions

How this review was produced

We assess every brand against the same weighted rubric and lock scores before any commercial review. See our rating methodology, or compare Liberty University against the rest of the category in best online degrees.