South University-West
Palm Beach
For-profit College in Royal Palm Beach, FL. Six-year graduation rate 17%. Median 10-year earnings $34,421.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $34,421, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 17% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,123, 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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.76 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 17% — below national average
Academics
Only 17% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Retention is strong at 100%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. 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 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Being a for-profit four-year institution is the single most useful context for these numbers — the sector's spread is wide enough that the school-level figures matter more than usual.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 284 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $20,271 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $16,177 at $0–30k versus $26,323 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $6,778. 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 · 5 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 | $16,177 |
| $30–48k | $21,337 |
| $48–75k | — |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | $26,323 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 193 of these 284 students, totalling $1,583,518 — an average of $8,205 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Palm Beach 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)