Houston Christian University
Private College in Houston, TX. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $55,933.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $55,933 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 49%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $22,642 in debt — in line with the national norm. It also moves people — 2.4% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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
An acceptance rate of 84% puts Houston Christian University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 8,455 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 11%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 33% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 500–600 | 249 (33%) |
| SAT Math | 490–590 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–24 | 48 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Houston Christian University →Academics
Completion is middling: 49% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 69% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The 35% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. Retention drops to 44% 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 2,777 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $21,282 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,933 at $0–30k versus $28,640 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 94% of students receive it, averaging $25,581. Borrowing is widespread: 59% 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 · 676 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 | $17,933 |
| $30–48k | $18,998 |
| $48–75k | $19,803 |
| $75–110k | $24,079 |
| $110k+ | $28,640 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,631 of these 2,777 students, totalling $10,798,974 — an average of $6,621 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Harris 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)