Fortis College-Norfolk
For-profit College in Norfolk, VA. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $32,754.
Ten-year median earnings of $32,754 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 30% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $9,500 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 30% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 35% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. A 19:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. This is a for-profit two-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category. This is a small school — 440 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 440 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $24,764 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $24,616 while those at $110k+ pay $35,941. About 80% get grants averaging $6,447, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 73% 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 · 23 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 | $24,616 |
| $30–48k | $24,829 |
| $48–75k | $25,136 |
| $75–110k | $24,610 |
| $110k+ | $35,941 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 320 of these 440 students, totalling $2,521,187 — an average of $7,879 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Norfolk City) — 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)