Palm Beach
Atlantic University
Private College in West Palm Beach, FL. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $49,232.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $49,232 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 55%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $22,500 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
Palm Beach Atlantic University accepts 82% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. With 10,335 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Only 10% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 25% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 500–620 | 208 (25%) |
| SAT Math | 450–600 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–26 | 117 (14%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Palm Beach Atlantic University →Academics
55% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 68% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. At 13:1, 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 2,427 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $31,231 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($25,570 versus $32,786), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 97% of students get grant aid averaging $23,766, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 48% of students.
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 · 673 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 | $25,570 |
| $30–48k | $25,312 |
| $48–75k | $25,619 |
| $75–110k | $26,244 |
| $110k+ | $32,786 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,158 of these 2,427 students, totalling $7,038,836 — an average of $6,078 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Palm Beach 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)