Gordon State College
Public Community College in Barnesville, GA. Six-year graduation rate 20%. Median 10-year earnings $37,871.
Students who entered Gordon State College reach a median of $37,871 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is the weak point: 20% graduate within six years. Graduates carry a median of $17,500 in debt — in line with the national norm.
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
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Graduation rate 20% — below national average
Admissions
Gordon State College admits 86% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 1,958, typical for a school of this reach. Yield sits at 36% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 14% 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 | 450–590 | 86 (14%) |
| SAT Math | 440–540 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–24 | 33 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Gordon State College →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 20% graduate within six years. Just 51% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. 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. With 39% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. Retention drops to 33% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,627 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $7,807 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $6,912 at $0–30k against $12,615 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 79% of students receive grant aid, averaging $6,292 — common but not automatic. 43% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 616 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 | $6,912 |
| $30–48k | $6,817 |
| $48–75k | $9,435 |
| $75–110k | $12,326 |
| $110k+ | $12,615 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,117 of these 2,627 students, totalling $6,654,507 — an average of $5,957 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lamar 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)