Lamar University
Public College in Beaumont, TX. Six-year graduation rate 37%. Median 10-year earnings $49,652.
Ten years after entry, the median Lamar University student earns $49,652 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 37% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,250, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.9% of students move from the bottom income quintile 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
Lamar University admits 86% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 8,990 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield sits at 22% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 43% 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 | 480–580 | 738 (43%) |
| SAT Math | 450–560 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–25 | 135 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Lamar University →Academics
Only 37% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential. First-year retention is 62% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. With 30% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 44% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,945 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $9,814 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $7,568 at $0–30k versus $16,292 at $110k+. About 74% get grants averaging $10,242, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 42% 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 · 1,458 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 | $7,568 |
| $30–48k | $8,261 |
| $48–75k | $8,545 |
| $75–110k | $13,689 |
| $110k+ | $16,292 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,343 of these 7,945 students, totalling $24,465,127 — an average of $7,318 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)