Georgia State University
Public Research University in Atlanta, GA. Six-year graduation rate 53%. Median 10-year earnings $47,384.
Ten years after entry, the median Georgia State University student earns $47,384 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 53%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,903, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.1% of students move from the bottom income quintile 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
Admissions
At 55%, the acceptance rate makes Georgia State University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. With 33,447 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. About 23% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 33% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 480–590 | 1,390 (33%) |
| SAT Math | 460–590 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 517 (12%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Georgia State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 53%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention is strong at 80%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. 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. A 25% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 54% return, against 80% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 27,111 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $16,854 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $13,787 at $0–30k, $20,305 at $110k+. About 81% get grants averaging $9,448, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 41% 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 · 4,418 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 | $13,787 |
| $30–48k | $14,430 |
| $48–75k | $16,656 |
| $75–110k | $19,390 |
| $110k+ | $20,305 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 11,172 of these 27,111 students, totalling $68,019,045 — an average of $6,088 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fulton 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)