Fisk University
Private College in Nashville, TN. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $45,454.
Ten years after entry, the median Fisk University student earns $45,454 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Only 30% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
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 30% — below national average
Admissions
At 37%, the acceptance rate makes Fisk University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 11,421 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 9%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 33% 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 | 570–720 | 123 (33%) |
| SAT Math | 570–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–24 | 246 (66%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Fisk University →Academics
Only 30% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential. Retention of 74% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 950 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $18,595 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $27,647 at $0–30k, $26,678 at $110k+. Most students get help: 93% receive grants worth $26,079 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 53% of students.
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 · 299 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 | $27,647 |
| $30–48k | $32,474 |
| $48–75k | $34,204 |
| $75–110k | $34,974 |
| $110k+ | $26,678 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 502 of these 950 students, totalling $3,734,229 — an average of $7,439 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Davidson 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)