Centenary College
of Louisiana
Private College in Shreveport, LA. Six-year graduation rate 56%. Median 10-year earnings $50,330.
Ten years after entry, the median Centenary College of Louisiana student earns $50,330 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 56%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — 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
Admissions
Centenary College of Louisiana admits 56% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. The applicant pool runs to 1,715, typical for a school of this reach. About 24% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 17% 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 | 530–600 | 40 (17%) |
| SAT Math | 530–610 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–25 | 146 (63%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Centenary College of Louisiana →Academics
Completion is middling: 56% finish inside six years. 70% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The 8:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 619 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $25,953 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $19,493 at $0–30k versus $29,862 at $110k+. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $32,913, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 69% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 255 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 | $19,493 |
| $30–48k | $19,831 |
| $48–75k | $20,942 |
| $75–110k | $25,412 |
| $110k+ | $29,862 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 430 of these 619 students, totalling $2,610,440 — an average of $6,071 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Caddo Parish) — 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)