College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Florida Southern College

FLMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1190 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places the college in the 19th percentile overall.

Who it’s a good fit for

Florida Southern College is a private nonprofit university in Lakeland, Florida, whose degree mix is led by Business and Biological Sciences, with access as its strongest , around the average. Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them.

The model attributes part of the gap to the factors it measures, which adds. It attributes the rest to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts.

Return is below the levels seen at many peers. The price case turns on income: the lowest band pays well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete below the overall rate, and mobility is modestly below average. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the largest program, Business Administration and Management, is not the best-paid one—Nursing graduates earn more, from fewer degrees awarded.

Florida Southern College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
64.4%
Six-year completion[2]
70.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$58,753

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$25,830
Median student debt[4]
$25,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$33,294

Florida Southern College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Florida Southern College is a private nonprofit university in Lakeland, Florida, enrolling 2,656 undergraduates. Its composite standing in the Azimuth ranking sits in the lower fifth among nonprofit four-year institutions, and its four pillars are spread across the ranking.

The university admits 64.4% of applicants, a rate that is somewhat more selective than the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 80.0% return for a second year, against a median of 83.4% for comparable institutions.

The six-year graduation rate is 70.5%, which sits above the median of 68.8% for comparable institutions. An estimated 12.6% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes the first-time, full-time cohort and not the whole student body.

The four pillars are spread across the ranking. Access is the strongest (54th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (17th percentile).

Return and mobility sit between them (24th and 36th percentiles respectively), giving Florida Southern College a profile where financial access outpaces the net price picture.

Florida Southern College has its clearest relative strength in access, but affordability is the weakest part of its profile. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, access is in the 54th percentile and mobility is in the 36th percentile.

Azimuth puts return in the 24th percentile and affordability in the 17th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Access stands apart from the other pillars, while affordability remains the main constraint in this profile.

The middle 50% of submitted SAT scores at Florida Southern College fell between 1,150 and 1,330. The middle 50% of ACT scores fell between 25 and 30.

28.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks the university #682 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 65.0%, which sits 5.5 percentage points below the overall rate (70.5%). For mobility, Azimuth ranks Florida Southern College #934 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,682 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Florida Southern College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,190

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 36
Access & reach
National percentile: 54
Affordability
National percentile: 17
Return on investment
National percentile: 24

01 / Florida Southern College briefing

Florida Southern College cost & financial aid[6][7]

Florida Southern College has a published cost of attendance of $60,768, and its average aid-recipient price sits above the comparable-school benchmark. Tuition and fees are $44,040, with room and board listed at $14,360.

For aid recipients, average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $28,551, as financial aid offsets $32,217 of the published cost on average. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; the college is $1,180 above that figure.

Azimuth places its affordability pillar in the 17th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The above-peer net price and lower affordability placement point in the same direction.

Florida Southern College has a published cost of attendance of $60,768, with aid-recipient prices varying by family income. Average net price is $23,624 for the lowest family-income band; $21,385 for the lower-middle band; $25,830 for the middle band; $29,044 for the upper-middle band; and $33,706 for the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,082. Azimuth ranks Florida Southern College #1,169 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 53% of the published cost and offsets $32,217 against the sticker price. The , what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $28,551.

That is $1,180 above the peer median net price of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition and fees are $44,040, so aid changes the listed price substantially, though the average net price remains above the peer comparison.

Borrowing is common among undergraduates here: 91.3% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and borrowers who complete have median federal student loan debt of $25,000. The peer median debt at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, placing the college's median $801 above that figure.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years. For parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $33,294.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$25,830

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Florida Southern College

Federal borrowing is widespread at Florida Southern College, with 91.3% of federal aid recipients taking federal loans. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt was $25,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), was $24,199, and the college's median was $801 above it. For Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate parent-borrower population, median borrowing was $33,294.

The investment picture at Florida Southern College is mixed: earnings land below what the model expects, while borrowing sits close to the peer median. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $58,753, a figure at the 46th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $10,682 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls in the 17th percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, stretch from $46,401 in a downside case to $80,969 in an upside case, with the typical scenario aligning with the observed median.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $25,000 in federal student loans, $801 above the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month.

Borrowing at Florida Southern College can involve both student and parent loans. The median Parent PLUS borrowing for parent borrowers was $33,294.

Median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 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
$25,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$33,294

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$284/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$423/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 / Florida Southern College briefing

Florida Southern College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Florida Southern College’s federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $58,753 four years after completion, in the 46th percentile. Comparable institutions (same type and size) have a peer median, the middle value, of $68,250, leaving the university $9,497 below it.

Graduates earn about $10,682 less than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth puts this earnings-beyond-expectations measure, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, in the 17th 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 $5,159. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,841.

For return, the university sits in the 24th percentile of nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison and model measure point in the same direction.

Florida Southern College has a middle-of-the-pack earnings result: federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $58,753 four years after completion. It is a midpoint, with measured earners on either side of that figure.

Azimuth places this earnings measure in the 46th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 713 completers. The cohort is a defined federal-aid group rather than every person who earned a degree, and it excludes people still enrolled.

A typical earnings scenario based on the program mix is $58,753. Separately, an estimated 33.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

The typical scenario and graduate-study estimate describe different ways the program mix shapes the post-completion picture.

Florida Southern College’s earnings measures sit below both its peer benchmark and the model’s expectation. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $58,753 four years after completion, in the 46th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, leaving the college $9,497 below it. Graduates earn about $10,682 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 17th percentile. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 24th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $46,401 on the downside to $80,969 on the upside. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $5,159.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $15,841. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,749.

The peer comparison and expected-earnings result point in the same direction. Nursing has the highest program median, with 50 degrees awarded and median earnings of $93,335 four years after completion.

Its earnings equal 1.05x of the national median for its field. The largest program, Business Administration and Management, awarded 120 degrees and has median earnings of $65,104 at the same point.

At Florida Southern College, modeled earnings vary widely across the fields represented in its program mix. The downside earnings scenario is $46,401, while the upside scenario is $80,969 four years after completion.

These are earnings scenarios for lower- and higher-earning program clusters, not observed groups of graduates. Field medians show the range behind those scenarios: Nursing graduates earn $93,335 four years after completion, Computer Science graduates earn $82,328, and Accounting graduates earn $72,480. The spread across these fields aligns with the broad scenario range.

At Florida Southern College, the financial picture calls for attention because borrowing and modeled earnings both warrant consideration. For borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,000.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199; Florida Southern College is above it by $801. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years.

The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $28,551, and aid covers about 53% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, offer another view of return.

Graduates earn about $10,682 less than the model expects for similar students. The debt comparison, net price, and modeled earnings result point in the same direction.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$5,159
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$15,841
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$10,682

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 / Florida Southern College briefing

Florida Southern College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Florida Southern College admitted 64.4% of applicants to its reported entering class, a rate that describes that year’s pool rather than an individual outcome. That rate is lower than the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
64.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
1150
Reported average
1252
Approximate upper endpoint
1330

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 / Florida Southern College briefing

What are the largest majors at Florida Southern College?[12]

At Florida Southern College, earnings differ markedly among the programs with the highest medians four years after completion. Nursing has median earnings of $93,335 and 50 degrees awarded in one academic year.

Computer Science follows with $82,328 in median earnings across 26 degrees awarded. Accounting records $72,480 with 31 degrees awarded, while Business Administration and Management has $65,104 and 120 degrees awarded.

The contrast between the first two fields and the latter pair shows that four-year earnings can vary substantially by field at the college.

At Florida Southern College, Business accounts for 24.1% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, making it the largest program family. Earnings data cover 13 bachelor’s fields, and the largest fields span a wide range four years after completion.

The bachelor's degrees at Florida Southern College are concentrated in Business, which accounts for 24.1% of degrees awarded, followed by Biological Sciences at 16.9% and Social Sciences at 9.3%. Across 13 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest is Business Administration and Management with 120 degrees awarded, while Nursing and Psychology follow at 50 and 48 degrees awarded.

The highest-earning program is Nursing, where completers earn a median of $93,335 four years after completion. Computer Science is next at $82,328, though it is a smaller program with 26 degrees awarded.

Accounting completers earn $72,480 four years after completion from 31 degrees awarded. Business Administration and Management, the largest program, has median earnings of $65,104.

The pattern is one of a business-anchored core with a high-earning outlier in Nursing, where earnings sit well above the rest of the list. 26.6% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the earnings for programs like Biology and Psychology are close to the national median for their fields, while the largest program's earnings are slightly below its field's national median.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 120 degrees awarded
$65,104
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 50 degrees awarded
$93,335
Psychology, General 48 degrees awarded
$53,344
Biology, General 47 degrees awarded
$58,782
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 43 degrees awarded
$52,796
Physiology, Pathology and Related Sciences 31 degrees awarded
$38,358

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 / Florida Southern College briefing

How does Florida Southern College serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion and modeled earnings point in different directions at Florida Southern College. For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 70.5%; Pell recipients’ six-year completion rate is 65.0%, below the overall rate by 5.5 percentage points.

Azimuth puts the mobility pillar in the 36th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 17th percentile.

Graduates earn about $10,682 less than the model expects for similar students. The completion figure is stronger than the earnings-beyond-expectations result.

Access is Florida Southern College’s strongest Azimuth pillar, shaped by admissions and several routes into a modest-sized undergraduate population. The university admits 64.4% of applicants and enrolls 2,656 undergraduates.

Pell Grants go to 28.1% of undergraduates, while an estimated 12.6% enter as transfers or part-time students. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the access pillar stands in the 54th percentile.

These measures describe both direct admission and transfer entry at the college.

06 / Florida Southern College briefing

What colleges are similar to Florida Southern 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 Florida Southern College.

Admissions peerFlorida Polytechnic University57.5% admitted
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeFlorida Polytechnic University
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$86,952+$28,199 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$11,853-$16,698 vs Florida Southern College · lower cost
Admission rate64.4%57.5%
Explore Florida Polytechnic University →
Higher-admission alternativeSaint Leo University78.4% admitted
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeSaint Leo University
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$58,644-$109 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$21,293-$7,258 vs Florida Southern College · lower cost
Admission rate64.4%78.4%
Nearby alternativeSaint Leo UniversityNearby option · FL
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeSaint Leo University
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$58,644-$109 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$21,293-$7,258 vs Florida Southern College · lower cost
Admission rate64.4%78.4%
Higher-earnings alternativeColorado School of Mines$100,252 earnings
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeColorado School of Mines
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$100,252+$41,499 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$28,690+$139 vs Florida Southern College · higher cost
Admission rate64.4%60.7%
Explore Colorado School of Mines →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Central Florida$10,411 average net price
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeUniversity of Central Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$61,355+$2,602 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$10,411-$18,140 vs Florida Southern College · lower cost
Admission rate64.4%40.1%
Explore University of Central Florida →
Similar profileWingate UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Florida Southern College
MeasureFlorida Southern CollegeWingate University
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,753$58,916+$163 vs Florida Southern College
Average annual net price$28,551$20,748-$7,803 vs Florida Southern College · lower cost
Admission rate64.4%91.1%

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