Winston-Salem State University
Public College in Winston-Salem, NC. Six-year graduation rate 47%. Median 10-year earnings $45,344.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $45,344 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 47%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $25,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.0% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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
An acceptance rate of 78% puts Winston-Salem State University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 9,108, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 4% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants 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 | 430–520 | 37 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 400–500 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–20 | 98 (11%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Winston-Salem State University →Academics
47% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 77% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 28% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The 15:1 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 4,244 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,989 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $11,463 at $0–30k versus $21,405 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 80% of students at an average of $9,816. 68% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 879 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 | $11,463 |
| $30–48k | $12,412 |
| $48–75k | $14,681 |
| $75–110k | $18,813 |
| $110k+ | $21,405 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,894 of these 4,244 students, totalling $19,002,143 — an average of $6,566 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Forsyth 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)