Southern Adventist University
Private College in Collegedale, TN. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $53,723.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $53,723 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 55%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,500, neither a bargain nor a burden. On economic mobility, 2.4% 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
Admissions
Southern Adventist University accepts 66% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,907 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 37% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 46% 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 | 530–660 | 321 (46%) |
| SAT Math | 490–640 | |
| ACT Composite | 19–25 | 420 (60%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Southern Adventist University →Academics
Completion is middling: 55% finish inside six years. 83% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The student-faculty ratio is 19:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,670 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $25,753 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $19,123 while those at $110k+ pay $30,751. Grant aid is widespread — 94% of students receive it, averaging $12,574. Federal borrowing reaches 44% 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 · 750 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 | $19,123 |
| $30–48k | $20,421 |
| $48–75k | $22,849 |
| $75–110k | $26,679 |
| $110k+ | $30,751 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,184 of these 2,670 students, totalling $7,528,846 — an average of $6,359 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hamilton 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)