Anderson University
Private College in Anderson, SC. Six-year graduation rate 66%. Median 10-year earnings $42,101.
Ten years after entry, the median Anderson University student earns $42,101 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 66% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,700, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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 0.63 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 55% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool runs to 4,548, typical for a school of this reach. 33% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 45% 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 | 560–650 | 365 (45%) |
| SAT Math | 540–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–29 | 260 (32%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Anderson University →Academics
A 66% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 82%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,080 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $24,434 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,188 at $0–30k versus $27,080 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 97% of students receive it, averaging $25,162. About 47% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 849 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 | $17,188 |
| $30–48k | $18,724 |
| $48–75k | $19,647 |
| $75–110k | $24,926 |
| $110k+ | $27,080 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,433 of these 3,080 students, totalling $9,255,106 — an average of $6,459 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Anderson County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)