Clayton State University
Public College in Morrow, GA. Six-year graduation rate 41%. Median 10-year earnings $49,179.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $49,179 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 41%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,706, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 68% puts Clayton State University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 1,870, typical for a school of this reach. 41% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. 43% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 450–558 | 222 (43%) |
| SAT Math | 410–520 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–19 | 68 (13%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Clayton State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 41%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 71% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 28% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 20:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,413 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $8,192 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,405 at $0–30k against $14,161 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 75% of students receive grant aid, averaging $7,436 — common but not automatic. 46% 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 · 444 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 | $7,405 |
| $30–48k | $7,032 |
| $48–75k | $9,755 |
| $75–110k | $12,095 |
| $110k+ | $14,161 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,027 of these 4,413 students, totalling $14,016,821 — an average of $6,915 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Clayton 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)