Point Loma
Nazarene University
Private College in San Diego, CA. Six-year graduation rate 77%. Median 10-year earnings $63,998.
Students who entered Point Loma Nazarene University reach a median of $63,998 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 77% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $22,990 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 77% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Point Loma Nazarene University accepts 84% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool runs to 3,265, typical for a school of this reach. Yield sits at 21% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 8% 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 | 610–695 | 44 (8%) |
| SAT Math | 565–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 25–32 | 35 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Point Loma Nazarene University →Academics
77% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 86% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 18% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 13:1, 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.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,132 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $39,696 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $30,999 while those at $110k+ pay $41,680. Most students get help: 86% receive grants worth $19,362 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 50% 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 · 657 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 | $30,999 |
| $30–48k | $32,117 |
| $48–75k | $32,888 |
| $75–110k | $33,003 |
| $110k+ | $41,680 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,575 of these 3,132 students, totalling $11,560,707 — an average of $7,340 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Diego 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)