Research brief & institution hub

Jacksonville State University

ALMedium public institution · Overall rank #303 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Jacksonville State University #303 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Jacksonville State University is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, where Health Professions and Business account for the largest shares of degrees. Nursing is the biggest single program, and mobility is well above average.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes an addition to the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — and a subtraction to the remainder it cannot explain.

Return is modestly below average. Pell recipients finish below the entering cohort as a whole, and access is well above average.

Affordability sits in the same band, with net prices that increase only modestly across the income scale. The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study, and the best-paid programs are small ones in engineering-related fields.

Jacksonville State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
77.7%
Six-year completion[2]
54.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$55,318

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$15,343
Median student debt[4]
$22,189
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$13,672

Jacksonville State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Jacksonville State University is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama, enrolling 7,036 undergraduates. Azimuth places it in the upper third for nonprofit four-year institutions (79th percentile).

Jacksonville State University admits 77.7% of all applicants, a rate that falls below the median of 85.9% at comparable institutions (same type and size). Of students who start full time, 64.6% return for a second year, below the median at comparable institutions (73.7%).

The six-year graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students who finish within six years. For that cohort, the rate is 54.7%, above the peer median of 49.1%.

An estimated 23.9% of all entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes a specific subset of the student body. Mobility is the strongest of the four (83rd percentile), with access close behind (83rd percentile).

Affordability sits at the 77th percentile. Return is the weakest of the four, at the 41st percentile, and the pillars are spread across the ranking rather than clustered together.

Mobility is the strongest pillar, in the 83rd percentile, and access follows closely at the 83rd percentile. Affordability sits at the 77th percentile.

Return is the weakest of the four, in the 41st percentile. The profile is one where access and mobility run well ahead of the earnings picture, a pattern worth weighing against the program list.

42.6% of undergraduates at Jacksonville State University receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks the university #253 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 44.5%, 10.2 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (54.7%). For mobility, Azimuth ranks Jacksonville State University #246 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $1,171 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Jacksonville State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#303

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 83
Access & reach
National percentile: 83
Affordability
National percentile: 77
Return on investment
National percentile: 41

Top-ranked majors

  1. Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other#1
  2. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians#3
  3. Security Science and Technology#20

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 / Jacksonville State University briefing

Jacksonville State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at Jacksonville State University is $24,257. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported out-of-state tuition of $706 and required fees of $2,634 as sticker charges.

On-campus food and housing are listed at $9,932. After aid, the average net price is $14,279.

That figure is $211 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid reduces the published cost by $9,978 on average.

Azimuth ranks the university #329 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the affordability pillar in the 77th percentile.

The published cost of attendance at Jacksonville State University is $24,257. Azimuth ranks the university #329 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $12,472, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $15,343, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $18,183. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $5,711.

Aid covers about 41% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The across all aid recipients is $14,279, which is $211 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $22,189 in federal student loans. That is $960 above the $21,229 median for comparable institutions.

80.9% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $13,672 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $252 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$15,343

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Jacksonville State University

Federal borrowing is widespread at Jacksonville State University: 80.9% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among those who complete, the median federal student loan debt is $22,189.

That median is $960 above the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Parent borrowers are a separate population, with median Parent PLUS borrowing of $13,672.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Jacksonville State University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $55,318. That figure is $1,983 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $1,171 less than the model expects for similar students. That result is at the 51st percentile.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $43,449 on the downside to $84,983 on the upside. The median federal debt of $22,189 corresponds to an estimated payment of $252 a month if repaid over ten years.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $13,672. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $252 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
$22,189
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$13,672

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$252/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$174/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 / Jacksonville State University briefing

Jacksonville State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $55,318, in the 34th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is $1,983 below the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 41st percentile. Graduates earn about $1,171 less than the model expects for similar students.

That result is at the 51st 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 $7,550. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,721.

Among 1,631 federally aided completers of Jacksonville State University who are working and not enrolled, the median earnings are $55,318 four years after completion. That figure currently falls at the 34th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer median among comparable institutions (same type and size) is $57,301, which currently puts this university $1,983 below that benchmark. Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from a downside of $43,449 to an upside of $84,983, with $55,318 as the typical estimate.

That wide spread shows the variation tied to program choice. Based on the current program mix, an estimated 26.0% of graduates continue to graduate study.

The median earnings figure at Jacksonville State University sits below the peer mark. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $55,318, at the 34th percentile.

That figure is below $57,301 at comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $1,983. Azimuth ranks the university #871 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $1,171 less than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 51st percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $7,550. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $8,721.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $529. The program mix tilts toward health professions and education.

Estimated from that mix, the downside earnings scenario is $43,449 and the upside is $84,983. An estimated 26.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The earnings scenarios show a wide range: from $43,449 on the downside to $84,983 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

At the higher end, Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians graduates earn $92,358 four years after completion, from 29 degrees awarded. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians follows at $90,850, with 21 degrees awarded. The largest program, Nursing, reports $83,984 from 295 degrees awarded.

Those who finish a degree at Jacksonville State University earn about $1,171 less than the model expects for similar students. Students who borrow and complete leave with a median of $22,189 in federal student loans.

That level sits $960 above the $21,229 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That balance yields an estimated monthly payment of $252 if repaid over ten years, though individual schedules vary.

The median Parent PLUS balance, for parents who borrow separately on their own, is $13,672. Debt runs above the peer median, and with earnings also falling below the model's benchmark, the two measures point the same way.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$7,550
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$8,721
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$1,171

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 / Jacksonville State University briefing

Jacksonville State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Jacksonville State University admits 77.7% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
77.7%
25th percentile
950
Median
1070
75th percentile
1210

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Jacksonville State University briefing

What are the largest majors at Jacksonville State University?[12]

The earnings spread across programs at Jacksonville State University is wide, and the largest programs are not the highest-earning ones. Nursing awards 295 degrees a year, the most of any program, and graduates earn a median of $83,984 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #149 nationally in its field. The highest earnings belong to a much smaller program.

Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians graduates earn $92,358, from 29 degrees awarded. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians follows at $90,850 with 21 degrees awarded.

At the more moderate end, Liberal Arts and General Studies awards 106 degrees and posts median earnings of $42,864. Azimuth ranks it #178 nationally in its field.

The largest program is Nursing, and the highest-earning program is Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians.

Health Professions accounts for 27.6% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Business second at 13.5%. Azimuth ranks 21 programs nationally.

Nursing is the largest single program, at 295 degrees a year. Azimuth ranks it #149 within its field and #1 in Alabama.

The highest-earning program is Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, at $92,358, though it awards only 29 degrees a year. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians follows at $90,850 from 21 degrees awarded.

Jacksonville State University awards bachelor's degrees across 21 ranked programs, with 26 programs reporting four-year earnings data. The largest program family is Health Professions, accounting for 27.6% of degrees awarded, followed by Business at 13.5% and Education at 12.9%.

The largest single programs are Nursing with 295 degrees awarded, Teacher Education with 157, and Liberal Arts and General Studies with 106. Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians is the highest-ranked program, with 29 degrees awarded and median earnings of $92,358 four years after completion.

It also ranks #1 in Alabama within its field. Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians ranks #3 nationally and #1 in Alabama within its field, with 21 degrees awarded.

Security Science and Technology ranks #20 nationally and #1 in Alabama within its field, with 46 degrees awarded. Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences ranks #22 nationally and #3 in Alabama within its field, with 22 degrees awarded.

Music rounds out the top-ranked programs at #45 nationally and #1 in Alabama within its field, with 45 degrees awarded. The highest-earning program is Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, with a benchmark ratio of 1.13x against the national median for its field.

Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians follows with a benchmark ratio of 1.05x. Nursing, the largest program, has median earnings of $83,984.

The program mix shows strength concentrated in health professions and applied technologies, with several programs ranking at or near the top of their fields in Alabama. 13.2% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields.

Earnings for the largest programs span from $83,984 in Nursing to $42,864 in Liberal Arts and General Studies.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 295 degrees awarded
$83,984
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 157 degrees awarded
$47,385
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities 106 degrees awarded
$42,864
Business Administration, Management and Operations 77 degrees awarded
$56,874
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General 66 degrees awarded
$46,042
Biology, General 58 degrees awarded
$48,523

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 / Jacksonville State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Jacksonville State University?[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 Jacksonville State University.

Admissions peerKennesaw State University69.2% admitted
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityKennesaw State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$68,306+$12,988 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$15,048+$769 vs Jacksonville State University · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%69.2%
Explore Kennesaw State University →
Higher-admission alternativeShorter University96.5% admitted
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityShorter University
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$54,008-$1,310 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$16,646+$2,367 vs Jacksonville State University · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%96.5%
Nearby alternativeUniversity of Alabama at BirminghamNearby option · AL
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$64,969+$9,651 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$18,749+$4,470 vs Jacksonville State University · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%88.2%
Explore University of Alabama at Birmingham →
Higher-earnings alternativeKennesaw State University$68,306 earnings
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityKennesaw State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$68,306+$12,988 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$15,048+$769 vs Jacksonville State University · higher cost
Admission rate77.7%69.2%
Explore Kennesaw State University →
Lower-cost alternativeClayton State University$8,365 average net price
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityClayton State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$54,430-$888 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$8,365-$5,914 vs Jacksonville State University · lower cost
Admission rate77.7%68.5%
Explore Clayton State University →
Similar profileValdosta State UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Jacksonville State University
MeasureJacksonville State UniversityValdosta State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$55,318$56,067+$749 vs Jacksonville State University
Average annual net price$14,279$10,945-$3,334 vs Jacksonville State University · lower cost
Admission rate77.7%72.3%
Explore Valdosta State University →

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