Transylvania University
Private College in Lexington, KY. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $54,705.
Ten years after entry, the median Transylvania University student earns $54,705 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate of 72% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
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
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 87%, Transylvania University takes nearly everyone who applies. 1,851 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 16% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 5% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 580–690 | 14 (5%) |
| SAT Math | 540–690 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–30 | 175 (67%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Transylvania University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 72% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 87% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,013 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $25,442 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $14,551 at the $0–30k band to $29,312 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 99% of students receive it, averaging $34,032. 47% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 280 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 | $14,551 |
| $30–48k | $14,555 |
| $48–75k | $19,272 |
| $75–110k | $22,155 |
| $110k+ | $29,312 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 479 of these 1,013 students, totalling $3,046,575 — an average of $6,360 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Fayette 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)