Elon University
Private College in Elon, NC. Six-year graduation rate 84%. Median 10-year earnings $74,545.
A decade after enrolling, the median Elon University student earns $74,545 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 84% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $20,500 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 84% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
66% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 18,105 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 13% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 2% 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 | 580–650 | 40 (2%) |
| SAT Math | 550–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–28 | 24 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Elon University →Academics
A 84% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 90% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. At 11:1, 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. 6,396 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,306 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $44,440 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $26,523 while those at $110k+ pay $49,743. About 71% get grants averaging $17,826, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 25% 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 · 1,676 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 | $26,523 |
| $30–48k | $23,514 |
| $48–75k | $24,064 |
| $75–110k | $34,472 |
| $110k+ | $49,743 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,565 of these 6,306 students, totalling $9,806,796 — an average of $6,266 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Alamance 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)