Salem College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Salem College

Salem College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 423 students of which 461 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. Salem College is categorized as “21” 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 76.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,082 and an ACT midpoint of 19. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $18,277, with published in-state tuition of $33,848 and a Pell grant recipient share of 55.2%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $26,649, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 56.7%, and the first-year retention rate is 67.5%. Graduates earn a median of $44,640 ten years after enrolling, compared with $38,496 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 54200.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 59.9% 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.