Oglethorpe University
Private College in Atlanta, GA. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $55,232.
Ten years after entry, the median Oglethorpe University student earns $55,232 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 54%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.3% 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
Admission is not the constraint here: 88% of applicants are accepted. 2,216 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 20% 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 | 550–660 | 69 (20%) |
| SAT Math | 540–650 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–31 | 26 (7%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Oglethorpe University →Academics
Completion is middling: 54% finish inside six years. 73% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, 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 1,430 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,490 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($16,207 versus $22,055), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 98% receive grants worth $37,576 on average. Most students borrow — 72% 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 · 390 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 | $16,207 |
| $30–48k | $17,558 |
| $48–75k | $18,745 |
| $75–110k | $23,924 |
| $110k+ | $22,055 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,025 of these 1,430 students, totalling $6,964,568 — an average of $6,795 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (DeKalb 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)