Savannah State University
Public College in Savannah, GA. Six-year graduation rate 29%. Median 10-year earnings $37,981.
Ten-year median earnings of $37,981 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 29% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation reaches $28,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 4.0% of students move 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 0.74 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 29% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 29% graduate within six years. First-year retention is 75% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The 40% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. The part-time picture is harder: 25% return, against 75% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,747 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $7,956 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($6,739 versus $12,597), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 87% receive grants worth $9,914 on average. 68% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 697 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 | $6,739 |
| $30–48k | $7,033 |
| $48–75k | $9,882 |
| $75–110k | $12,694 |
| $110k+ | $12,597 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,878 of these 2,747 students, totalling $11,996,636 — an average of $6,388 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Chatham 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)