Claflin University
Private College in Orangeburg, SC. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $40,304.
Students who entered Claflin University reach a median of $40,304 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate is 52%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates leave owing a median of $29,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings. It also moves people — 3.6% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.72 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 65% puts Claflin University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 8,127, typical for a school of this reach. Only 7% 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 Claflin University →Academics
52% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 75% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 27% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,754 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,272 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $16,354 at $0–30k versus $25,071 at $110k+. Most students get help: 97% receive grants worth $16,015 on average. 74% 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 · 457 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 | $16,354 |
| $30–48k | $21,118 |
| $48–75k | $22,279 |
| $75–110k | $23,502 |
| $110k+ | $25,071 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,290 of these 1,754 students, totalling $8,896,781 — an average of $6,897 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orangeburg 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)