Harding University
Private College in Searcy, AR. Six-year graduation rate 69%. Median 10-year earnings $52,876.
Ten years after entry, the median Harding University student earns $52,876 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate of 69% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,500, 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
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 71% puts Harding University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 2,714, typical for a school of this reach. A 45% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. The score bands below rest on the 18% 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 | 530–660 | 157 (18%) |
| SAT Math | 520–630 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–29 | 643 (75%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Harding University →Academics
A 69% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 86% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 21% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 13:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,302 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,806 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $15,418 at the $0–30k band to $26,284 at $110k+. 94% of students get grant aid averaging $16,687, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 45% 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 · 860 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 | $15,418 |
| $30–48k | $17,430 |
| $48–75k | $19,832 |
| $75–110k | $22,017 |
| $110k+ | $26,284 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,475 of these 3,302 students, totalling $14,833,065 — an average of $10,056 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (White 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)