Wilberforce University
Private College in Wilberforce, OH. Six-year graduation rate 12%. Median 10-year earnings $38,298.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,298, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 12% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates carry a median of $26,468 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.69 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 12% — below national average
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 41% of applicants are offered a place. 6,338 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 8%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 | — | 2 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Wilberforce University →Academics
Only 12% finish within six years, so roughly nine in ten students leave without the credential. Retention of 74% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Retention drops to 50% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 602 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $5,533 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($5,630 versus $5,226), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 94% receive grants worth $14,718 on average. Most students borrow — 97% 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 · 170 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 | $5,630 |
| $30–48k | $5,313 |
| $48–75k | $5,211 |
| $75–110k | $5,217 |
| $110k+ | $5,226 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 586 of these 602 students, totalling $3,355,053 — an average of $5,725 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Greene County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)