Alabama A
& M University
Public College in Normal, AL. Six-year graduation rate 24%. Median 10-year earnings $40,628.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,628 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 24% graduate within six years. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $31,000 at graduation. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 4.2% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.76 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 24% — below national average
Admissions
Alabama A & M University admits 58% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. With 23,406 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Only 15% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 27% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 420–530 | 537 (27%) |
| SAT Math | 390–510 | |
| ACT Composite | 14–19 | 1,317 (67%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Alabama A & M University →Academics
Only 24% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. 70% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. The 33% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 21% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,726 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,152 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Income makes less difference than usual: $16,500 at $0–30k, $20,364 at $110k+. About 81% get grants averaging $12,495, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 76% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,976 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $16,500 |
| $30–48k | $16,387 |
| $48–75k | $19,622 |
| $75–110k | $21,680 |
| $110k+ | $20,364 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,357 of these 5,726 students, totalling $30,301,705 — an average of $6,955 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Madison County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)