Dallas Baptist University
Private College in Dallas, TX. Six-year graduation rate 59%. Median 10-year earnings $56,807.
Ten years after entry, the median Dallas Baptist University student earns $56,807 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 59%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $21,591, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 89%, Dallas Baptist University takes nearly everyone who applies. 6,163 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 11%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 29% 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 | 490–620 | 180 (29%) |
| SAT Math | 470–593 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–26 | 91 (15%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Dallas Baptist University →Academics
59% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 64% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Transfer-out runs to 29% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 17% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,536 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $30,057 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price varies modestly by income — $25,326 at $0–30k against $32,273 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 88% of students get grant aid averaging $21,385, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 36% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 567 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 | $25,326 |
| $30–48k | $25,996 |
| $48–75k | $28,024 |
| $75–110k | $28,242 |
| $110k+ | $32,273 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 909 of these 2,536 students, totalling $6,492,959 — an average of $7,143 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dallas 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)