Tennessee Wesleyan University
Private College in Athens, TN. Six-year graduation rate 48%. Median 10-year earnings $45,989.
Ten years after entry, the median Tennessee Wesleyan University student earns $45,989 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 48%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. 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
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Tennessee Wesleyan University accepts 69% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. With 902 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. About 30% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Score ranges below describe the middle half of score submitters among enrolled first-years; students who applied test-optional 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 | — | 2 (1%) |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | 19–23 | 140 (74%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Tennessee Wesleyan University →Academics
Completion is middling: 48% finish inside six years. Retention of 72% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 33% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 796 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,125 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($11,609 versus $18,980), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $21,142, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 56% 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 · 168 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 | $11,609 |
| $30–48k | $11,088 |
| $48–75k | $12,647 |
| $75–110k | $16,043 |
| $110k+ | $18,980 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 447 of these 796 students, totalling $3,101,838 — an average of $6,939 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (McMinn 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)