Southern University
and A & M College
Public Research University in Baton Rouge, LA. Six-year graduation rate 27%. Median 10-year earnings $43,371.
Ten years after entry, the median Southern University and A & M College student earns $43,371 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 27% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates leave owing a median of $29,251 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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 0.67 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 27% — below national average
Admissions
At 35%, the acceptance rate makes Southern University and A & M College a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. The applicant pool is large — 24,340 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield sits at 20% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 12% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 410–530 | 207 (12%) |
| SAT Math | 380–490 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–19 | 1,081 (63%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Southern University and A & M College →Academics
Only 27% finish within six years, so roughly three in four students leave without the credential. First-year retention is 60% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 32% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 21:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,025 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $18,353 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $19,047 at $0–30k, $26,069 at $110k+. About 84% get grants averaging $8,309, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Most students borrow — 79% 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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,626 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 | $19,047 |
| $30–48k | $19,395 |
| $48–75k | $22,288 |
| $75–110k | $25,292 |
| $110k+ | $26,069 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,745 of these 6,025 students, totalling $31,478,592 — an average of $6,634 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (East Baton Rouge Parish) — 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)