Edward Waters University
Private College in Jacksonville, FL. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $34,782.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,782, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential they enrolled for.
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
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Admissions
Edward Waters University accepts 85% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool is large — 10,283 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Only 3% 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 Edward Waters University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 28% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention is weak: only 54% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. 19% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,112 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,029 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $12,380 at $0–30k versus $20,865 at $110k+. 95% of students get grant aid averaging $13,258, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 68% take federal loans.
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 · 306 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 | $12,380 |
| $30–48k | $12,113 |
| $48–75k | $9,743 |
| $75–110k | $21,661 |
| $110k+ | $20,865 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 760 of these 1,112 students, totalling $4,860,139 — an average of $6,395 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Duval 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)