Citadel Military
College of South Carolina
Public College in Charleston, SC. Six-year graduation rate 75%. Median 10-year earnings $72,085.
Students who entered Citadel Military College of South Carolina reach a median of $72,085 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 75% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,096, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 75% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Citadel Military College of South Carolina admits just 23% of applicants, placing it among the most selective undergraduate institutions in the country. The applicant pool runs to 3,252, typical for a school of this reach. A 91% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. The score bands below rest on the 7% 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 | 540–640 | 45 (7%) |
| SAT Math | 545–645 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–27 | 66 (10%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Citadel Military College of South Carolina →Academics
A 75% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 86%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Transfer-out runs to 17% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The 11:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,624 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,124 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,430 while those at $110k+ pay $24,047. 76% of students receive grant aid, averaging $14,816 — common but not automatic. 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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 661 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 | $15,430 |
| $30–48k | $16,456 |
| $48–75k | $18,140 |
| $75–110k | $20,620 |
| $110k+ | $24,047 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 971 of these 2,624 students, totalling $6,194,222 — an average of $6,379 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Charleston 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)