Piedmont University
Private College in Demorest, GA. Six-year graduation rate 47%. Median 10-year earnings $49,130.
Students who entered Piedmont University land at a median of $49,130 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 47%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Piedmont University admits 93% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 1,770, typical for a school of this reach. A 15% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 25% 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 | 528–625 | 58 (25%) |
| SAT Math | 510–620 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–25 | 24 (10%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Piedmont University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 47%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 70% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 35% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,235 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,252 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,416 while those at $110k+ pay $25,622. Grant aid is widespread — 99% of students receive it, averaging $22,091. Most students borrow — 66% 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 · 285 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 | $15,416 |
| $30–48k | $17,618 |
| $48–75k | $19,085 |
| $75–110k | $24,161 |
| $110k+ | $25,622 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 821 of these 1,235 students, totalling $5,998,044 — an average of $7,306 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Habersham 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)