Fortis Institute-Cookeville
For-profit College in Cookeville, TN. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $34,509.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,509 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 50% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates leave owing a median of $13,000 — modest by four-year standards.
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
Academics
50% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 19:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 306 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $22,987 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $22,635 while those at $110k+ pay $31,068. 84% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,573 — common but not automatic. Borrowing is widespread: 84% 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 · 18 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 | $22,635 |
| $30–48k | $23,399 |
| $48–75k | $23,928 |
| $75–110k | $28,625 |
| $110k+ | $31,068 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 258 of these 306 students, totalling $2,265,965 — an average of $8,783 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Putnam 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)