University of
the Southwest
Private College in Hobbs, NM. Six-year graduation rate 17%. Median 10-year earnings $45,389.
Students who entered University of the Southwest land at a median of $45,389 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 17% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $21,303, roughly typical for an undergraduate 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
- ! Graduation rate 17% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 17% graduate within six years. 55% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The student-faculty ratio is 21:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. 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 337 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $17,243 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $15,384 at $0–30k, $21,985 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 93% of students receive it, averaging $11,278. Most students borrow — 64% 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 · 89 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 | $15,384 |
| $30–48k | $14,090 |
| $48–75k | $15,943 |
| $75–110k | $20,077 |
| $110k+ | $21,985 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 216 of these 337 students, totalling $1,347,133 — an average of $6,237 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lea 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)