Brenau University
Private College in Gainesville, GA. Six-year graduation rate 35%. Median 10-year earnings $54,003.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $54,003 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 35% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.1% 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
- ! Graduation rate 35% — below national average
Admissions
Brenau University admits 88% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 3,625 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 9% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 12% 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 | 500–620 | 36 (12%) |
| SAT Math | 430–580 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–22 | 13 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Brenau University →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 35% graduate within six years. 65% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. The 48% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. A 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 981 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $19,743 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($19,481 versus $20,426), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is widespread — 90% of students receive it, averaging $18,497. 85% 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 · 197 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 | $19,481 |
| $30–48k | $17,379 |
| $48–75k | $18,420 |
| $75–110k | $18,279 |
| $110k+ | $20,426 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 835 of these 981 students, totalling $7,374,404 — an average of $8,832 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hall 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)