Hardin-Simmons University
Private College in Abilene, TX. Six-year graduation rate 46%. Median 10-year earnings $54,771.
Students who entered Hardin-Simmons University land at a median of $54,771 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 46%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,711, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
With an acceptance rate of 90%, Hardin-Simmons University takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 3,479, typical for a school of this reach. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 32% 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 | 510–600 | 121 (32%) |
| SAT Math | 500–590 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–26 | 76 (20%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Hardin-Simmons University →Academics
Completion is middling: 46% finish inside six years. 65% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. With 33% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,275 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $19,811 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $13,822 at $0–30k versus $25,639 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $25,257 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 83% 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 · 353 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 | $13,822 |
| $30–48k | $15,190 |
| $48–75k | $17,248 |
| $75–110k | $18,182 |
| $110k+ | $25,639 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,054 of these 1,275 students, totalling $7,068,547 — an average of $6,706 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Taylor 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)