Norfolk State University
Public College in Norfolk, VA. Six-year graduation rate 39%. Median 10-year earnings $44,666.
Ten years after entry, the median Norfolk State University student earns $44,666 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 39% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation reaches $29,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.4% 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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.65 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 88%, Norfolk State University takes nearly everyone who applies. 11,247 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 9% 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 | 430–520 | 120 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 393–510 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–22 | 15 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Norfolk State University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 39% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 73% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,495 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $9,124 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $12,804 at $0–30k versus $26,175 at $110k+. Most students get help: 91% receive grants worth $12,938 on average. Most students borrow — 64% 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 · 1,414 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 | $12,804 |
| $30–48k | $13,905 |
| $48–75k | $15,507 |
| $75–110k | $17,972 |
| $110k+ | $26,175 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,520 of these 5,495 students, totalling $22,507,848 — an average of $6,394 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Norfolk City) — 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)