Biola University
Private College in La Mirada, CA. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $56,778.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $56,778 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate of 68% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $23,875 in debt — in line with the national norm.
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
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 74% puts Biola University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 3,781 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 30% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 21% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 600–700 | 172 (21%) |
| SAT Math | 560–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–29 | 70 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Biola University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 68% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 84% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,390 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $34,082 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $27,144 while those at $110k+ pay $37,314. Most students get help: 95% receive grants worth $27,461 on average. 44% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 746 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 | $27,144 |
| $30–48k | $25,410 |
| $48–75k | $26,825 |
| $75–110k | $29,846 |
| $110k+ | $37,314 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,479 of these 3,390 students, totalling $9,765,389 — an average of $6,603 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)