Davidson College
Private College in Davidson, NC. Six-year graduation rate 91%. Median 10-year earnings $81,400.
A decade after enrolling, the median Davidson College student earns $81,400 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 91% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $18,688, 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 0.23 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 91% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.4 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Admit rate 13% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 13% of applicants receive an offer. The applicant pool runs to 8,114, typical for a school of this reach. 48% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. The score bands below rest on the 28% 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 | 695–750 | 147 (28%) |
| SAT Math | 705–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 31–34 | 121 (23%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Davidson College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 91% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 95%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 8:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate body is just 1,904, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,901 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $27,720 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,497 while those at $110k+ pay $42,346. About 67% get grants averaging $51,049, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 9% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 519 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 | $9,497 |
| $30–48k | $5,354 |
| $48–75k | $6,759 |
| $75–110k | $18,616 |
| $110k+ | $42,346 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 165 of these 1,901 students, totalling $1,001,235 — an average of $6,068 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Mecklenburg 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)