Spelman College
Private College in Atlanta, GA. Six-year graduation rate 78%. Median 10-year earnings $59,993.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $59,993 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 79% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden. On economic mobility, 3.3% 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 78% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 25% of applicants receive an offer. With 12,023 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield sits at 24% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 23% 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 | 590–680 | 160 (23%) |
| SAT Math | 518–640 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–29 | 112 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Spelman College →Academics
A 79% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 94% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The 11:1 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
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,633 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $40,354 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $32,923 at the $0–30k band to $44,529 at $110k+. 63% of students receive grant aid, averaging $16,546 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 48% 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 · 727 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 | $32,923 |
| $30–48k | $34,108 |
| $48–75k | $36,602 |
| $75–110k | $38,640 |
| $110k+ | $44,529 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,749 of these 3,633 students, totalling $11,491,796 — an average of $6,570 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fulton 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)