Meredith College
Private College in Raleigh, NC. Six-year graduation rate 70%. Median 10-year earnings $51,539.
Ten years after entry, the median Meredith College student earns $51,539 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 70% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 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
An acceptance rate of 74% puts Meredith College on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 1,983 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 19% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 11% 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 | 588–668 | 30 (11%) |
| SAT Math | 510–680 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–29 | 37 (14%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Meredith College →Academics
A 70% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 79% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in five are gone before sophomore year. A 23% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 10:1, 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 1,277 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $24,323 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,207 at $0–30k versus $29,117 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $33,316 on average. Most students borrow — 56% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 325 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 | $17,207 |
| $30–48k | $19,006 |
| $48–75k | $18,064 |
| $75–110k | $23,678 |
| $110k+ | $29,117 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 718 of these 1,277 students, totalling $4,810,876 — an average of $6,700 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wake 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)