Wayland Baptist University
Private College in Plainview, TX. Six-year graduation rate 19%. Median 10-year earnings $51,838.
Students who entered Wayland Baptist University land at a median of $51,838 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 19% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $23,106, 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
- ! Graduation rate 19% — below national average
Admissions
Wayland Baptist University admits 56% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. 1,939 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 32% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction.
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 Wayland Baptist University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 19% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 45% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. 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 2,090 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $20,446 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($20,070 versus $25,435), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $11,317. About 52% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 248 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 | $20,070 |
| $30–48k | $16,344 |
| $48–75k | $19,949 |
| $75–110k | $21,542 |
| $110k+ | $25,435 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,080 of these 2,090 students, totalling $7,790,941 — an average of $7,214 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hale 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)