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Private College

Southern Nazarene University

Private College in Bethany, OK. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $54,951.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Southern Nazarene University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$54,951
Median debt at grad
$21,900
Mobility score
1.0
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
50.5%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Southern Nazarene University land at a median of $54,951 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 51%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $21,900 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented

Academics

Full-time retention
73%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
15:1

Six-year completion sits at 51%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 73% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. 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

Average net price
$23,295
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
89%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
65%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,459 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $23,295 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $18,931 at $0–30k versus $27,434 at $110k+. 89% of students get grant aid averaging $18,170, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 65% take federal loans to cover the gap.

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.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$23,175

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 346 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 $18,931
$30–48k $18,323
$48–75k $22,590
$75–110k $27,082
$110k+ $27,434

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 945 of these 1,459 students, totalling $6,718,352 — an average of $7,109 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Oklahoma County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$939/mo
1 bedroom
$1,017/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,244/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

VA caution flag

Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring

GI Bill students
207
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Southern Nazarene University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Southern Nazarene University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →