Shaw University
Private College in Raleigh, NC. Six-year graduation rate 22%. Median 10-year earnings $34,409.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,409, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Only 22% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $32,500 at graduation. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.9% 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 0.94 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 22% — below national average
Admissions
Shaw University accepts 80% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool runs to 7,390, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 4%, 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 Shaw University →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 22% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 52% of full-time first-years return, so roughly one in two leave after one year. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The 14:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 839 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $16,445 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $16,236 while those at $110k+ pay $24,966. 92% of students get grant aid averaging $15,025, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Borrowing is widespread: 71% 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 · 182 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 | $16,236 |
| $30–48k | $16,276 |
| $48–75k | $21,145 |
| $75–110k | $15,059 |
| $110k+ | $24,966 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 598 of these 839 students, totalling $3,481,076 — an average of $5,821 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wake 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)