Livingstone College
Private College in Salisbury, NC. Six-year graduation rate 28%. Median 10-year earnings $32,600.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,600, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 28% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $31,125 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.95 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 28% — below national average
Admissions
At 59%, the acceptance rate makes Livingstone College a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 6,721 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 9% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Livingstone College →Academics
Only 28% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. Retention of 71% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 822 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,826 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $13,860 at $0–30k against $16,018 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 98% of students get grant aid averaging $14,693, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 78% 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 · 269 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 | $13,860 |
| $30–48k | $14,056 |
| $48–75k | $11,028 |
| $75–110k | $14,558 |
| $110k+ | $16,018 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 642 of these 822 students, totalling $4,429,498 — an average of $6,900 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Rowan 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)