Rust College
Private College in Holly Springs, MS. Six-year graduation rate 12%. Median 10-year earnings $32,275.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,275, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 12% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Graduates carry a median of $26,159 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 2.3% of students travel from the bottom income quintile 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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.81 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 12% — below national average
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 49% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool runs to 3,807, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 6%, 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 Rust College →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 12% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention of 84% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. 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. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. 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 430 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,037 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $12,546 at $0–30k against $18,356 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 92% of students get grant aid averaging $12,526, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 70% take federal loans.
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 · 98 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 | $12,546 |
| $30–48k | $9,481 |
| $48–75k | $13,878 |
| $75–110k | $8,797 |
| $110k+ | $18,356 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 300 of these 430 students, totalling $1,942,470 — an average of $6,475 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Marshall County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)