Benedict College
Private College in Columbia, SC. Six-year graduation rate 24%. Median 10-year earnings $31,902.
Students who entered Benedict College reach a median of $31,902 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is the weak point: 24% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $32,500 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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 1.02 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 24% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 96%, Benedict College takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 5,098, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 8%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Benedict College →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 24% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 57% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 45% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,573 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $18,665 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($17,177 versus $20,328), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 94% of students get grant aid averaging $15,364, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 68% 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 · 343 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 | $17,177 |
| $30–48k | $18,686 |
| $48–75k | $19,295 |
| $75–110k | $20,250 |
| $110k+ | $20,328 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,073 of these 1,573 students, totalling $7,881,406 — an average of $7,345 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Richland 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)