College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Florida Gulf Coast University

FLLarge public institution · Overall rank #259 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Florida Gulf Coast University in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Florida Gulf Coast University is a public university in Fort Myers, Florida, where the degree mix is led by Business and Health Professions. Affordability is well above average, and that is the university's strongest .

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes the gap to what it cannot explain, which subtracts, while the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — add.

Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than further study. Families at both ends of the income scale pay below the published cost, with the highest-income band paying closer to it.

Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is well above average. The admission rate sits below the median for comparable schools.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are much smaller and concentrated in engineering.

FGCU at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
63.4%
Six-year completion[2]
57.4%
Four-year earnings[3]
$59,369

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$10,999
Median student debt[4]
$17,622
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$18,946

FGCU rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Florida Gulf Coast University holds a place toward the top (82nd percentile). The public university in Fort Myers, Florida, enrolls 13,874 undergraduates.

Florida Gulf Coast University admits 63.4% of those who apply, against a peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions. 83.2% of first-year, full-time students return for a second year, against a peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate stands at 57.4%, compared with a peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 40.3% of the entering class arrives as transfers or part-time students, so a large portion of the student body started elsewhere.

The four pillars sit far apart. Affordability is the strongest (88th percentile) and return is the weakest (33rd percentile).

Access (85th) and mobility (85th) land close together. That wide gap between return and the other three gives the university an uneven profile, with one pillar sitting well below the others.

Affordability is the clearest strength at Florida Gulf Coast University, though the return picture is weaker. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, affordability sits in the 88th percentile and mobility in the 85th percentile.

Azimuth places access in the 85th percentile, while return, the weakest pillar, is in the 33rd percentile.

27.9% of undergraduates at Florida Gulf Coast University receive Pell Grants. Those students complete at 48.7%, 8.7 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate for the entering cohort.

Azimuth ranks the university #228 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks the university #215 for mobility. Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

FGCU rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#259

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 85
Access & reach
National percentile: 85
Affordability
National percentile: 88
Return on investment
National percentile: 33

Top-ranked majors

  1. Legal Support Services#3
  2. Education, General#6
  3. Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy#14

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / FGCU briefing

FGCU cost & financial aid[6][7]

Florida Gulf Coast University pairs comparatively low aid-recipient costs with a strong affordability standing. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported $4,191 in-state tuition and $22,328 out-of-state tuition for the 2025-26 academic year.

Required fees were $1,927, and on-campus food and housing were $10,102 as published sticker charges. The published cost of attendance is $20,807.

Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $12,568, with average financial-aid savings of $8,239 against that published cost. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $15,634; the university's average is below it by $3,066.

Azimuth ranks Florida Gulf Coast University #174 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Lower and the affordability rank point in the same direction.

Florida Gulf Coast University publishes a cost of attendance of $20,807, though the average aid recipient pays far less depending on family income. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $8,220 in the lowest-income band, $8,191 in the lower-middle band, $10,999 in the middle band, $15,450 in the upper-middle band, and $18,829 in the highest band.

The difference between the lowest and highest band averages is $10,609. Azimuth places the university at #174 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 40% of the published cost, an average savings of $8,239 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $12,568, a figure that describes an aid-recipient average rather than any family’s bill.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $15,634, placing the university $3,066 below that benchmark. Its overall aid-recipient price and peer comparison point toward lower net costs.

Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $17,622, and 73.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median federal debt at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $20,076, leaving the university’s median $2,454 below the peer figure.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $200 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $18,946.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$10,999

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at FGCU

At Florida Gulf Coast University, borrowers who complete have median federal student loan debt of $17,622. Federal loans are taken by 73.5% of federal aid recipients.

The peer median is $20,076 at comparable institutions (same type and size); Florida Gulf Coast University sits below it by $2,454. For separate Parent PLUS parent borrowers, median borrowing is $18,946.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 37% of graduates borrowed from any source, including 36% with federal loans and 6% with private loans. Average cumulative borrowing was $28,376 from any source, $23,164 for federal borrowers, and $34,899 for private borrowers.

The investment picture at Florida Gulf Coast University is mixed: borrowing sits below comparable institutions, but earnings fall short of the model’s expectation. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, median earnings are $59,369 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that earnings figure in the 48th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also points lower.

Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The downside, typical, and upside earnings scenarios are $49,395, $59,369, and $76,340. Median federal student loan debt is $17,622, $2,454 below the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $200 a month if repaid over ten years. Lower borrowing and below-expected earnings describe different parts of a mixed investment picture.

For parent borrowers, a population separate from student federal-loan borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $18,946. For student borrowers, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $200 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
$17,622
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$18,946

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$200/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$241/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 / FGCU briefing

FGCU career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Return indicators are below the comparable-school benchmark. Azimuth places Florida Gulf Coast University's return pillar in the 33rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students. That earnings-beyond-expectations result, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 27th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,198. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,558.

Median earnings are $59,369 four years after completion, in the 48th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $65,610, putting Florida Gulf Coast University $6,241 below it.

Both measures point to lower school-level earnings than comparable institutions.

Graduates of Florida Gulf Coast University earn less than the model predicts for students like them, and the median sits below the peer benchmark. The program mix, however, includes fields that pay considerably more than the university-wide figure.

Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,369. Azimuth places that figure in the 48th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 2,700 completers.

It is $6,241 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show a range from a downside of $49,395 to an upside of $76,340, with a typical scenario of $59,369. An estimated 29.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Return is the weakest pillar for Florida Gulf Coast University, and the earnings figures show why. Federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,369 four years after completion, in the 48th percentile.

That figure sits $6,241 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #981 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students. That gap falls at the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,198. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $12,558.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $284, while the broader mix centers on business, health, and interdisciplinary fields rather than engineering or computer science. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from $49,395 on the downside to $76,340 on the upside.

An estimated 29.7% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix. The median sits below both the peer benchmark and the model's expectation.

Earnings vary widely by modeled scenario and by field at Florida Gulf Coast University. The downside earnings scenario is $49,395, the typical scenario is $59,369, and the upside scenario reaches $76,340 four years after completion.

The higher-earning fields show one end of that spread: Computer Engineering has median earnings of $98,650, Biomedical Engineering reaches $91,676, and Nursing records $86,452, all four years after completion. These are program-level medians, not outcomes for every graduate.

Florida Gulf Coast University offers lower borrowing and lower aid-recipient costs than comparable institutions, but its earnings picture calls for caution. Borrowers who completed with federal student loans had median debt of $17,622.

That is below the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size), the middle figure for that group, by $2,454. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $200 a month if repaid over ten years.

For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, was $12,568, below the $15,634 median at comparable institutions by $3,066. Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students. Lower prices and debt sit alongside earnings below the model’s expectation.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,198
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$12,558
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$7,360

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 / FGCU briefing

FGCU acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Florida Gulf Coast University admitted 63.4% of applicants, below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 20,420 first-year applicants and 12,955 admitted applicants.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
63.4%
25th percentile
1050
Median
1110
75th percentile
1200

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / FGCU briefing

What are the largest majors at FGCU?[12]

Within Florida Gulf Coast University’s nationally ranked fields, Education has a median of $55,116 four years after completion from 52 degrees awarded. Azimuth places it #6 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Security Science and Technology is a moderate-earning field, with $52,096 in median earnings and 83 degrees awarded; Azimuth ranks it #14 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. Legal Support Services recorded $56,695 in median earnings four years after completion across 49 degrees awarded.

Azimuth ranks the field #3 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies had $48,879 in median earnings and 297 degrees awarded, with an Azimuth national rank of #15 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The figures show a higher-earning Legal Support Services field alongside larger, moderate-earning fields.

Program rankings provide several concrete comparisons across the university’s fields. Azimuth publishes national field rankings for 30 bachelor's fields at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Azimuth places Legal Support Services at #3 nationally within its field. Security Science and Technology is ranked #14 nationally, with 83 degrees awarded and $52,096 in median earnings four years after completion.

The bachelor's degrees at Florida Gulf Coast University are spread across several fields, with no single family dominating. Business accounts for 23.8% of degrees awarded, followed by Health Professions at 11.6% and Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at 10.2%.

The university has 30 ranked programs and 34 with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, at 297 degrees awarded, with Psychology close behind at 262 and Business Administration and Management at 239.

The strongest programs by national rank are led by Legal Support Services, which earns a median of $56,695 four years after completion. Azimuth ranks it #1 in Florida within its field.

Education ranks #6 nationally within its field and #1 in Florida. The program awards 52 degrees and has median earnings of $55,116.

The highest-earning programs are a different set: Computer Engineering leads at $98,650, though it awards only 68 degrees a year, while Nursing follows at $86,452 from 68 degrees awarded. The pattern is one of breadth rather than concentration, with strength in a mix of professional and applied fields.

The largest programs are not the highest-earning, and the highest-earning programs are small, concentrated in engineering and nursing. A student drawn to the largest majors will find solid state-level rankings, while the strongest earnings are in programs that award fewer than a hundred degrees a year. Across all fields, 11.7% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General 297 degrees awarded
$48,879
Psychology, General 262 degrees awarded
$52,722
Business Administration, Management and Operations 239 degrees awarded
$66,349
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General 198 degrees awarded
$54,006
Criminal Justice and Corrections 148 degrees awarded
$54,215
Communication and Media Studies 142 degrees awarded
$56,455

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 / FGCU briefing

How does FGCU serve students from different backgrounds?

Affordability is Florida Gulf Coast University's strongest pillar, while its mobility measures show solid completion alongside lower-than-expected earnings. Azimuth places its mobility pillar in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 57.4%, compared with 48.7% for Pell recipients, below the overall rate by 8.7 percentage points. Graduates earn about $7,360 less than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The return picture is mixed: completion measures are favorable, but modeled earnings fall short of expectations.

Florida Gulf Coast University pairs a 63.4% admission rate with an estimated 40.3% share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group, giving access a broad entry point. Its undergraduate enrollment is 13,874, and 27.9% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 85th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Admission access, Pell participation, and transfer enrollment all point to a school serving several routes into undergraduate study.

06 / FGCU briefing

What colleges are similar to FGCU?[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 FGCU.

Admissions peerFlorida International University54.7% admitted
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUFlorida International University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$62,192+$2,823 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$9,288-$3,280 vs FGCU · lower cost
Admission rate63.4%54.7%
Explore Florida International University →
Higher-admission alternativeEverglades University81.5% admitted
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUEverglades University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$59,470+$101 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$27,371+$14,803 vs FGCU · higher cost
Admission rate63.4%81.5%
Nearby alternativeFlorida International UniversityNearby option · FL
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUFlorida International University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$62,192+$2,823 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$9,288-$3,280 vs FGCU · lower cost
Admission rate63.4%54.7%
Explore Florida International University →
Higher-earnings alternativeFlorida Polytechnic University$86,952 earnings
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUFlorida Polytechnic University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$86,952+$27,583 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$11,853-$715 vs FGCU · lower cost
Admission rate63.4%57.5%
Explore Florida Polytechnic University →
Lower-cost alternativeFlorida International University$9,288 average net price
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUFlorida International University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$62,192+$2,823 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$9,288-$3,280 vs FGCU · lower cost
Admission rate63.4%54.7%
Explore Florida International University →
Similar profileUniversity of North FloridaMatched across several measures
Comparison with FGCU
MeasureFGCUUniversity of North Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,369$59,418+$49 vs FGCU
Average annual net price$12,568$10,154-$2,414 vs FGCU · lower cost
Admission rate63.4%53.2%
Explore University of North Florida →

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