College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Flagler College

FLMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1346 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Flagler College in the 8th percentile nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Flagler College is a private nonprofit university in Saint Augustine, Florida, where the degree mix is led by Business, Psychology, and Visual & Performing Arts. Access is the strongest , though it sits modestly below average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that gap to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts, than to the factors it measures, which also subtract.

Return is below the levels seen at many peers. Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate slightly above the entering cohort as a whole, a pairing that distinguishes a school where access and completion pull together.

The lowest income band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it, and affordability is below the levels seen at many peers. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the highest-earning field, Public Administration, awards far fewer degrees than Business Administration and Management.

Flagler College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
80.8%
Six-year completion[2]
56.0%
Four-year earnings[3]
$52,031

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$25,521
Median student debt[4]
$24,250
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$29,390

Flagler College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

In Saint Augustine, Florida, Flagler College is a private nonprofit university enrolling 2,391 undergraduates. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university falls in the lower tenth of the overall ranking (8th percentile).

The admission rate at Flagler College is 80.8%, against a peer median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. First-year retention is 75.5%, compared with a peer median of 83.4%.

The six-year graduation rate is 56.0%, against a peer median of 68.8%; because this measure tracks only the first-time full-time cohort, it does not capture students who transfer in. An estimated 17.6% of the student body arrives as transfers or part-time students.

Among the four pillars, access stands highest for Flagler College (41st percentile) and return stands lowest (15th percentile). Mobility and affordability sit between those extremes (24th and 16th percentiles). All four are clustered in the lower half of the distribution.

Access is Flagler College’s clearest relative strength, but the remaining measures leave a mixed profile. Azimuth puts access in the 41st percentile and mobility in the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Affordability is in the 16th percentile, while return is in the 15th percentile. Access is the strongest pillar and return the weakest, so the profile is uneven across the measures.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores at Flagler College fell between 960 and 1,190. The middle 50% of submitted ACT scores fell between 19 and 25.

Pell Grants go to 29.1% of undergraduates. Pell recipients at Flagler College complete at 58.8% within six years, 2.8 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort overall (56.0%).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #869 for access. For mobility, Azimuth ranks Flagler College #1,117 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Flagler College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,346

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 24
Access & reach
National percentile: 41
Affordability
National percentile: 16
Return on investment
National percentile: 15

01 / Flagler College briefing

Flagler College cost & financial aid[6][7]

A full-year budget at Flagler College begins with a published cost of attendance of $45,744. Of that sticker total, tuition and fees are $29,900, and room and board are $15,130.

Published cost is a standard annual budget, rather than an amount every household will face. For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $30,525.

The average aid offset is $15,219 from the published total. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; Flagler’s average is $3,154 above that benchmark.

Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 16th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The sticker cost, aid-recipient average, and peer comparison point to a higher average price than at comparable institutions.

Costs vary widely by family-income band at Flagler College. Against a published cost of attendance of $45,744, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $21,733 for the lowest family-income band, $23,129 for the next band, $25,521 for the middle band, $29,663 for the next-highest band, and $37,909 for the highest family-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $16,176. Azimuth ranks the college #1,187 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 33% of the published cost, an average savings of $15,219. The across all aid recipients is $30,525, which is $3,154 above the peer median of $27,371, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Published tuition and fees are $29,900, and room and board are listed at $15,130. The higher average price than comparable colleges sits alongside aid that covers part of the published cost.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $24,250. That figure is $51 above the peer median federal debt of $24,199, and 90.9% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month if repaid over ten years. Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $29,390.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$25,521

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Flagler College

Federal borrowing is common at Flagler College, with 90.9% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $24,250.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199, and Flagler’s median is above it by $51. Parent borrowers are a separate population; their median Parent PLUS borrowing is $29,390.

At Flagler College, the median earnings for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled four years after completion are $52,031. That median falls $16,219 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that earnings level is in the 23rd percentile. Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap in the 22nd percentile. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix are $52,031 in a typical case, $41,269 in a downside case and $62,408 in an upside case.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $24,250 in federal loans, $51 above the $24,199 median for comparable institutions. If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing was $29,390. Student federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$24,250
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$29,390

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$276/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$373/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Flagler College briefing

Flagler College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Access is the strongest pillar for Flagler College, while its return figures give a less favorable picture. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 15th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students. That places earnings beyond expectations in the 22nd percentile.

Of that gap, the model attributes $828 to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market), a share that subtracts from expected earnings. It attributes $8,161 to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts from expected earnings.

Four years after completion, median earnings are $52,031, in the 23rd percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with earnings $16,219 below that benchmark. The expectation and peer comparisons point in the same direction.

Flagler College posts median earnings of $52,031 four years after completion for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, a relatively low earnings level in this coverage set. Azimuth places the measure in the 23rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The earnings cohort includes 876 completers. Earnings scenarios based on the program mix put the typical outcome at the same level as the median, with a downside scenario of $41,269 and an upside scenario of $62,408.

These scenarios describe modeled outcomes rather than observed groups. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, are unfavorable.

Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students. An estimated 28.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

Flagler College graduates who are federally aided, working and not enrolled earn a median of $52,031 four years after completion, placing them in the 23rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is $16,219 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks Flagler College #1,245 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students.

That places the earnings gap at the 22nd percentile nationally. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) subtracts $828.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,161. Within the measured factors, the STEM component subtracts $1,246.

The bachelor's program mix leans heavily toward Business, Psychology, and Visual & Performing Arts, with only 2.5% of degrees awarded in STEM fields. The downside and upside earnings scenarios, estimated from that program mix, are $41,269 and $62,408 respectively.

An estimated 28.9% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Program choice makes a noticeable difference in the modeled earnings picture. The downside earnings scenario is $41,269, the typical scenario is $52,031, and the upside scenario is $62,408.

Published program medians four years after completion show the higher end of that range: Public Administration at $70,202, Political Science at $65,513, and Accounting at $63,113. These field-level results show why the modeled range is broader than a single college-wide median.

Flagler College has borrower debt in line with comparable colleges, but its average net price is higher and modeled earnings fall short of expectations. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $24,250, which is above the median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $276 a month if repaid over ten years. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, have median borrowing of $29,390.

Graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $30,525, above the $27,371 peer median.

Aid covers about 33% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Debt matches peers, whereas net price and modeled earnings point less favorably.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
-$828
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$8,161
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$8,989

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Flagler College briefing

Flagler College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Flagler College admitted 80.8% of applicants in the reported entering class, indicating that admission was available to a large share of that year’s pool. Its rate stands above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
80.8%
Approximate lower endpoint
960
Reported average
1084
Approximate upper endpoint
1190

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Flagler College briefing

What are the largest majors at Flagler College?[12]

At Flagler College, published earnings differ by field, making the program-level picture more varied than a single schoolwide figure. Four years after completion, Public Administration has median earnings of $70,202 and 20 degrees awarded.

Political Science follows with $65,513 in median earnings and 7 degrees awarded. Accounting sits in the higher-earning group at $63,113, with 41 degrees awarded.

By contrast, Psychology records median earnings of $47,078 and 83 degrees awarded. The contrast between these fields shows that four-year earnings at the college vary materially with the field of study.

Flagler College’s degree output centers on Business, which accounts for 28.8% of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Earnings data are published for 17 fields, showing a range among the school’s larger and higher-earning programs.

Accounting awarded 41 degrees and reports $63,113. Business Administration and Management is larger, with 86 degrees awarded and median earnings of $58,703. These figures show that earnings differ materially by field.

The degree mix at Flagler College is concentrated in a few professional and liberal arts families. Business accounts for 28.8% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Psychology at 12.9% and Visual & Performing Arts at 12.4%.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 86 degrees awarded, followed closely by Psychology with 83 degrees awarded. Accounting is a distant third at 41 degrees awarded.

Across all fields, 2.5% of degrees are in STEM, and the college has 17 programs with published four-year earnings data. The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Public Administration graduates earn a median of $70,202 four years after completion, from 20 degrees awarded a year.

Political Science is next at $65,513, with 7 degrees awarded. Accounting, the third-largest program, also appears among the top earners at $63,113.

The largest program, Business Administration and Management, earns $58,703, which is 0.86x the national median for its field. The pattern is one where the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

Psychology, the second-largest program, earns $47,078, and the arts and conservation programs that round out the top five by size sit in a similar range. The two programs that exceed the national median for their fields, Public Administration and Political Science, together award fewer than thirty degrees a year.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 86 degrees awarded
$58,703
Psychology, General 83 degrees awarded
$47,078
Accounting and Related Services 41 degrees awarded
$63,113
Design and Applied Arts 39 degrees awarded
$46,921
Natural Resources Conservation and Research 38 degrees awarded
$48,085
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 31 degrees awarded
$53,353

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Flagler College briefing

How does Flagler College serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion offers the clearest starting point for Flagler College’s mobility picture: the six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 56.0%. Pell recipients complete within six years at 58.8%, above the overall rate by 2.8 percentage points.

Four years after completion, graduates earn about $8,989 less than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 22nd percentile.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Pell completion exceeds overall completion, but modeled earnings fall short of expectations.

Flagler College’s access picture is its strongest Azimuth pillar: the college admits 80.8% of applicants and enrolls 2,391 undergraduates. The admission figure describes applicants to the reported entering class, rather than an individual applicant’s chance.

29.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a financial-access measure, and an estimated 17.6% of the undergraduate body is transfer-in. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 41st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Flagler College briefing

What colleges are similar to Flagler College?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Flagler College.

Admissions peerPalm Beach Atlantic University82.0% admitted
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegePalm Beach Atlantic University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$54,983+$2,952 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$28,354-$2,171 vs Flagler College · lower cost
Admission rate80.8%82.0%
Higher-admission alternativeSouthern Wesleyan University99.5% admitted
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegeSouthern Wesleyan University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$52,228+$197 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$15,464-$15,061 vs Flagler College · lower cost
Admission rate80.8%99.5%
Nearby alternativeStetson UniversityNearby option · FL
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegeStetson University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$57,773+$5,742 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$19,372-$11,153 vs Flagler College · lower cost
Admission rate80.8%71.6%
Explore Stetson University →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis$131,813 earnings
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegeUniversity of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$131,813+$79,782 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$31,817+$1,292 vs Flagler College · higher cost
Admission rate80.8%89.8%
Explore University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of North Florida$10,154 average net price
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegeUniversity of North Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$59,418+$7,387 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$10,154-$20,371 vs Flagler College · lower cost
Admission rate80.8%53.2%
Explore University of North Florida →
Similar profilePalm Beach Atlantic UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Flagler College
MeasureFlagler CollegePalm Beach Atlantic University
Peer earnings · 4 years$52,031$54,983+$2,952 vs Flagler College
Average annual net price$30,525$28,354-$2,171 vs Flagler College · lower cost
Admission rate80.8%82.0%

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings