Francis Marion University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Francis Marion University

Francis Marion University operates as a public institution located in Florence, South Carolina (rural: fringe), with a total reported enrollment of 2,628 students of which 4,028 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Francis Marion University is categorized as “19” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 86.4%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,015 and an ACT midpoint of 19. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $11,386, with published in-state tuition of $11,160 and a Pell grant recipient share of 37.6%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $27,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 43.1%, and the first-year retention rate is 70.0%. Graduates earn a median of $43,888 ten years after enrolling, compared with $36,304 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 205100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 56.4% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.