Fort Valley
State University
Public College in Fort Valley, GA. Six-year graduation rate 41%. Median 10-year earnings $36,666.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $36,666, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 41%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation reaches $31,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. It also moves people — 2.8% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
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 0.85 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
Fort Valley State University accepts 66% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 5,201 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. 23% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 4% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 480–560 | 28 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 450–510 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–24 | 7 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Fort Valley State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 41%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 79% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 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. Transfer-out runs to 29% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 25% return, against 79% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,543 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $10,047 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Income makes less difference than usual: $9,017 at $0–30k, $16,914 at $110k+. Most students get help: 87% receive grants worth $9,507 on average. Most students borrow — 69% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 684 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 | $9,017 |
| $30–48k | $9,021 |
| $48–75k | $11,502 |
| $75–110k | $15,571 |
| $110k+ | $16,914 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,752 of these 2,543 students, totalling $10,932,405 — an average of $6,240 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Peach 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)