Ferrum College
Private College in Ferrum, VA. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $44,296.
Students who entered Ferrum College land at a median of $44,296 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Completion is the weak point: 32% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.61 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 89% of applicants are accepted. 1,787 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Ferrum College →Academics
Only 32% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 37% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. A 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 745 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $20,082 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $16,940 at $0–30k, $24,346 at $110k+. 99% of students get grant aid averaging $42,918, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 87% 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 · 237 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 | $16,940 |
| $30–48k | $16,493 |
| $48–75k | $19,967 |
| $75–110k | $22,505 |
| $110k+ | $24,346 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 650 of these 745 students, totalling $3,591,755 — an average of $5,526 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Franklin 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)