Parker University
Private College in Dallas, TX. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $42,091.
Ten years after entry, the median Parker University student earns $42,091 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 50% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $12,288, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
Six-year completion sits at 50%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 50% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. At 8:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. This is a small school — 504 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 494 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $29,928 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Income makes less difference than usual: $26,817 at $0–30k, $34,084 at $110k+. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $10,290, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 67% 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 · 49 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 | $26,817 |
| $30–48k | $30,817 |
| $48–75k | $33,016 |
| $75–110k | $31,332 |
| $110k+ | $34,084 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 329 of these 494 students, totalling $3,672,584 — an average of $11,163 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dallas 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)