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Private College

Christian Brothers University

Private College in Memphis, TN. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $57,478.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Christian Brothers University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$57,478
Median debt at grad
$27,000
Mobility score
2.6
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
54.7%
Federal loan default
0%

The median ten-year earnings figure of $57,478 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 55% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings. On economic mobility, 2.6% of students travel 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.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
87%
Applicants
1,504
Yield rate
13.4%

With an acceptance rate of 87%, Christian Brothers University takes nearly everyone who applies. 1,504 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 5% 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 460–700 8 (5%)
SAT Math 560–680
ACT Composite 19–24 103 (59%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Christian Brothers University →

Academics

Full-time retention
75%
Transfer-out rate
25%
Student:faculty
9:1

Six-year completion sits at 55%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 75% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 25% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 9:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$16,754
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
97%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
37%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 954 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $16,754 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $9,466 at $0–30k against $5,843 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is widespread — 97% of students receive it, averaging $30,222. 37% 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.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$31,234

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 199 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 $9,466
$30–48k $11,657
$48–75k $10,023
$75–110k $12,839
$110k+ $5,843

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 350 of these 954 students, totalling $3,096,661 — an average of $8,848 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Shelby County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,060/mo
1 bedroom
$1,154/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,274/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
33
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Christian Brothers University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Christian Brothers University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →