SUM Bible
College and Theological Seminary
Private College in El Dorado Hills, CA. Six-year graduation rate 85%. Median 10-year earnings $35,418.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $35,418, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate of 85% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $26,677 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 85% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.75 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary admits 41% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in five applicants are turned away. With 59 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. Yield is high — 100% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at SUM Bible College and Theological Seminary →Academics
85% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention of 64% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. 15% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 18:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 312 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $22,276 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($21,249 versus $17,426), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 58% of students at an average of $5,208. 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 · 33 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 | $21,249 |
| $30–48k | $22,068 |
| $48–75k | $21,807 |
| $75–110k | $23,144 |
| $110k+ | $17,426 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 137 of these 312 students, totalling $1,053,319 — an average of $7,688 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (El Dorado 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)