Fortis Institute-Birmingham
For-profit College in Birmingham, AL. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $32,886.
Ten-year median earnings of $32,886 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 34% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $12,346.
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 34% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 34% graduate within six years. 56% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. At 30:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. Being a for-profit two-year institution is the single most useful context for these numbers — the sector's spread is wide enough that the school-level figures matter more than usual.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 342 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $25,960 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $25,257 at $0–30k, $32,927 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 82% of students at an average of $6,600. Most students borrow — 70% 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 · 51 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 | $25,257 |
| $30–48k | $26,309 |
| $48–75k | $29,229 |
| $75–110k | $32,927 |
| $110k+ | $32,927 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 241 of these 342 students, totalling $1,805,917 — an average of $7,493 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)