Kentucky Wesleyan College
Private College in Owensboro, KY. Six-year graduation rate 46%. Median 10-year earnings $46,747.
Ten years after entry, the median Kentucky Wesleyan College student earns $46,747 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 46%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 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
Admissions
Kentucky Wesleyan College accepts 72% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,113 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 15% 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 | 440–560 | 37 (15%) |
| SAT Math | 450–570 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–23 | 162 (64%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Kentucky Wesleyan College →Academics
46% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention is weak: only 53% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. The 31% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. At 15:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 794 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,999 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $13,951 at the $0–30k band to $22,888 at $110k+. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $26,288 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 64% 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 · 229 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 | $13,951 |
| $30–48k | $13,701 |
| $48–75k | $15,062 |
| $75–110k | $19,306 |
| $110k+ | $22,888 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 509 of these 794 students, totalling $3,957,565 — an average of $7,775 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Daviess 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)