Chowan University
Private College in Murfreesboro, NC. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $38,412.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,412, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 30% graduate within six years. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $29,491 at graduation.
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 0.77 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 69% puts Chowan University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 2,124, typical for a school of this reach. Only 12% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
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 Chowan University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 30% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 71% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. 39% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 638 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,206 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($13,726 versus $19,713), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $22,426, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 57% 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 · 161 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 | $13,726 |
| $30–48k | $10,950 |
| $48–75k | $14,549 |
| $75–110k | $14,565 |
| $110k+ | $19,713 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 363 of these 638 students, totalling $3,041,943 — an average of $8,380 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hertford 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)