Paine College
Private College in Augusta, GA. Six-year graduation rate 14%. Median 10-year earnings $33,338.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $33,338, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 14% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. It also moves people — 2.0% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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
- ! Graduation rate 14% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 95%, Paine College takes nearly everyone who applies. 3,105 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 4%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 Paine College →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 14% graduate within six years. 54% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. 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. 36% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. A 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 344 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,935 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price varies modestly by income — $15,322 at $0–30k against $20,388 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 97% of students get grant aid averaging $8,437, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 76% 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 · 112 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 | $15,322 |
| $30–48k | $14,959 |
| $48–75k | $17,233 |
| $75–110k | $23,604 |
| $110k+ | $20,388 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 263 of these 344 students, totalling $1,893,533 — an average of $7,200 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Richmond County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Show Cause (Significantly out of compliance - fiscal and administrative capacity), Denial of Recertification Application to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs Issued by Department of Education; Denial of Recertification Application to Participate in the Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs Issued by Department of Education; School has an accreditation issue
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)