Southwest University
at El Paso
For-profit College in El Paso, TX. Six-year graduation rate 67%. Median 10-year earnings $29,648.
Ten-year median earnings of $29,648 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate of 67% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,000, 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 0.67 — elevated (above 0.60)
Academics
A 67% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. At 20:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. As a for-profit four-year institution, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers. This is a small school — 1,808 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,808 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,906 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The gap between the $0–30k and $48–75k bands is narrow ($16,569 versus $21,909), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 93% receive grants worth $15,162 on average. Most students borrow — 76% 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 · 645 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 | $16,569 |
| $30–48k | $20,912 |
| $48–75k | $21,909 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,367 of these 1,808 students, totalling $15,789,421 — an average of $11,550 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (El Paso County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)