Spelman College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Spelman College

Spelman College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Atlanta, Georgia (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 3,414 students of which 4,039 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. Spelman 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 24.9%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,220. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $38,967, with published in-state tuition of $31,556 and a Pell grant recipient share of 27.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $25,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 77.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 94.1%. Graduates earn a median of $59,993 ten years after enrolling, compared with $45,676 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 96400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 61.5% 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.