College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Rollins College

FLMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #1079 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Rollins College #1,079 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Rollins College is a private nonprofit university in Winter Park, Florida, where the degree mix is led by Business and Social Sciences. Access is the strongest , sitting around the average, while affordability is the weakest, below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes the gap to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts from earnings, and to the factors it measures, which add to them.

Return is around the average. The net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is modestly below average. The admission rate is below 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 best-paid one, Computer and Information Sciences, is much smaller.

Rollins College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
47.5%
Six-year completion[2]
75.0%
Four-year earnings[3]
$65,488

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$30,079
Median student debt[4]
$25,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$40,054

Rollins College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Rollins College is a private nonprofit university in Winter Park, Florida, enrolling 2,631 undergraduates. The college falls below the midpoint of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (26th percentile), with a wide gap between its strongest and weakest pillars.

Rollins College admits 47.5% of those who apply, against a 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among first-time, full-time students, 85.2% return after the first year and 75.0% finish within six years, the six-year graduation rate for that cohort.

Those outcomes sit above the medians for comparable institutions, which are 83.4% and 68.8%. An estimated 14.5% of entrants are transfers, so the six-year rate describes the first-time cohort rather than the full student body.

Access is the strongest of the four pillars (55th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (8th percentile). Return and mobility fall between them (52nd and 41st percentiles).

The four pillars are spread wide, with the strongest and weakest sitting far apart rather than clustered together.

Access is Rollins College's strongest Azimuth pillar, at the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Return stands at the 52nd percentile, and mobility at the 41st percentile.

Affordability is the weakest pillar at the 8th percentile, leaving a wide separation between access and the cost picture.

Pell Grants reach 22.9% of the undergraduate population at Rollins College, a measure of financial access. Those Pell recipients complete at 70.0%, a figure that sits 5.0 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (75.0%).

The college ranks #658 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. For mobility, Rollins College sits at #864 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

Rollins College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#1,079

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 41
Access & reach
National percentile: 55
Affordability
National percentile: 8
Return on investment
National percentile: 52

01 / Rollins College briefing

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

At Rollins College, aid reduces a high published price, but the average recipient still pays more than at comparable institutions. The published cost of attendance is $76,108, an average across living arrangements.

On-campus tuition and fees are $60,580 and room and board is $16,820. For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $34,732.

Financial aid offsets $41,376 of the published cost on average. The is $7,361 above the $27,371 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #1,302 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. The aid reduction is substantial, yet the resulting average cost sits above the peer benchmark.

At Rollins College, the published cost of attendance is $76,108 (an average across living arrangements), making the price after aid central to the affordability picture. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $27,177 for the lowest-income family band, $27,965 for the next-lowest band, $30,079 for the middle-income band, $32,393 for the upper-middle band, and $41,006 for the highest-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $13,829. Azimuth ranks the university #1,302 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, financial aid savings of $41,376 offset the sticker price, and aid covers about 54% of the published cost. Across all aid recipients, the average net price is $34,732, while tuition and fees alone are $60,580.

The peer median net price, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $27,371, placing the university $7,361 above that benchmark. The school’s average price after aid therefore remains higher than its comparable-institution benchmark.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,500, and 87.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median debt at comparable institutions (same type and size) is $24,199, leaving the university $1,301 above that figure.

Parent PLUS borrowers have median borrowing of $40,054. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $290 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$30,079

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Rollins College

Federal borrowing is widespread at Rollins College: 87.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $25,500 at completion.

That median stands above the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size), a $1,301 difference. For parents who borrowed through Parent PLUS, a separate population, the median is $40,054.

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 38% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $37,948 per borrower. The reporting includes 38% of graduates with federal loans, averaging $25,661. It also includes 8% of graduates with private loans, averaging $63,870.

The investment picture is mixed: observed earnings and the model comparison point in different directions. Among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled, Rollins College has median earnings of $65,488 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that figure in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students.

This gap is called earnings beyond expectations. Azimuth places that measure in the 38th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

From the program mix, the downside earnings scenario is $48,670, the typical scenario is $65,488, and the upside scenario is $80,190. Median federal student debt at completion is $25,500, which is above the $24,199 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,301.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $290 a month if repaid over ten years. The return picture remains mixed: earnings are below the model's expectation, alongside debt above the peer median.

Families weighing parent borrowing should keep it separate from student loans: median Parent PLUS borrowing for parent borrowers was $40,054. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $290 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
$25,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$40,054

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$290/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$509/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 / Rollins College briefing

Rollins College 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 $65,488, which is at the 67th percentile nationally. That is $2,762 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 38th percentile.

Azimuth places the college at the 52nd percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds $4,778. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $9,269.

Rollins College shows a relatively high earnings level, though its model comparison is less favorable. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $65,488 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that earnings figure in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 717 completers. For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings scenarios based on the program mix range from $48,670 in the downside scenario to $80,190 in the upside scenario; the typical scenario matches the reported median. An estimated 28.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix.

The high earnings percentile and below-expected model result pull in different directions.

Median earnings at Rollins College are $65,488 four years after completion for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure falls in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with the university $2,762 below it. Graduates earn about $4,491 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, is in the 38th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,778.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $9,269. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $977.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix run from $48,670 in the downside scenario to $80,190 in the upside scenario. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 52nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Program medians differ across the fields shown here. Business Administration and Management was the largest, with 122 degrees awarded and median earnings of $61,095 four years after completion, or 0.90x of the national median for its field.

Computer and Information Sciences awarded 22 degrees and had median earnings of $118,277, at 1.28x of its field’s national median. Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations had 24 degrees awarded and median earnings of $85,574, or 1.40x of the national median for that field.

These field benchmarks show that program-level results do not follow a single pattern.

Earnings vary widely across 13 bachelor’s programs with published results. The downside earnings scenario is $48,670 and the upside scenario is $80,190, while the typical scenario is $65,488; these are scenarios, not observed groups.

Cost is the main caution at Rollins College, where average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $34,732. It is above the $27,371 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Aid covers about 54% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $13,829, so family income remains an important part of the cost picture.

Borrowers who complete have median federal student loan debt of $25,500, above the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $290 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students. Higher cost and debt coincide with earnings below model expectations.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$4,778
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$9,269
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$4,491

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 / Rollins College briefing

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

In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 8,860 first-year applicants and 4,212 admitted applicants. Rollins College admitted 47.5% of applicants, below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
47.5%
25th percentile
1210
Median
1260
75th percentile
1340

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

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Rollins College briefing

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

Rollins College shows a wide spread in four-year earnings across its larger and higher-earning fields. Computer and Information Sciences has the highest median, $118,277 four years after completion, with 22 degrees awarded.

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations follows at $85,574 and 24 degrees awarded, placing both fields well above the collegewide median. Among larger programs, International Business records $69,695 with 59 degrees awarded, whereas Psychology records $48,340 with 53 degrees awarded.

The contrast between these fields shows that the return picture can differ materially by program choice.

Program earnings vary sharply across Rollins College's 13 fields with published data, so a chosen field matters to the financial picture. Business Administration and Management, the largest listed field, awarded 122 degrees and showed $61,095 in median earnings.

The spread between these fields makes program-level comparisons more informative than a schoolwide figure alone.

Business is the dominant program family at Rollins College, accounting for 31.7% of bachelor's degrees awarded, with Social Sciences next at 13.8% and Communication & Journalism at 11.3%. The college has 13 programs with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 122 degrees awarded, followed by Communication and Media Studies at 73 and International Business at 59. The highest-earning program is a much smaller one: Computer and Information Sciences graduates earn a median of $118,277 four years after completion, from 22 degrees awarded a year.

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations is next at $85,574, with 24 degrees awarded. Among the largest programs, International Business shows the strongest earnings at $69,695, while Psychology, the fourth-largest program, reports $48,340.

The pattern is one of a business and social-science core with a small, high-earning technical outlier. Computer and Information Sciences earns well above the national median for its field, at 1.28x, but it awards only a fraction of the degrees of the largest programs.

The largest programs sit closer to or below their national benchmarks: Business Administration and Management earns 0.90x the national median for its field, and Psychology earns 0.95x. Across all fields, 15.9% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Business Administration, Management and Operations 122 degrees awarded
$61,095
Communication and Media Studies 73 degrees awarded
$62,086
International Business 59 degrees awarded
$69,695
Psychology, General 53 degrees awarded
$48,340
Music 32 degrees awarded
$45,910
Natural Resources Conservation and Research 27 degrees awarded
$63,363

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 / Rollins College briefing

How does Rollins College serve students from different backgrounds?

Mobility at Rollins College is weaker than its access measures, with completion and modeled earnings pointing in different directions. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 41st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 75.0%, while Pell recipients complete at 70.0%, below the overall rate by 5.0 percentage points. For earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, graduates earn about $4,491 less than the model expects for similar students. That measure sits in the 38th percentile.

Access is the strongest of Rollins College's measured pillars. The university admits 47.5% of applicants and enrolls 2,631 undergraduates.

Pell Grant recipients represent 22.9% of undergraduates, and an estimated 14.5% enter as transfers or part-time students. Azimuth puts the access pillar in the 55th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

These figures show access through admissions, Pell Grant reach, and transfer entry rather than a single route.

06 / Rollins College briefing

What colleges are similar to Rollins 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 Rollins College.

Admissions peerUniversity of Central Florida40.1% admitted
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeUniversity of Central Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$61,355-$4,133 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$10,411-$24,321 vs Rollins College · lower cost
Admission rate47.5%40.1%
Explore University of Central Florida →
Higher-admission alternativeSaint Leo University78.4% admitted
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeSaint Leo University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$58,644-$6,844 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$21,293-$13,439 vs Rollins College · lower cost
Admission rate47.5%78.4%
Nearby alternativeThe University of TampaNearby option · FL
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeThe University of Tampa
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$62,720-$2,768 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$36,211+$1,479 vs Rollins College · higher cost
Admission rate47.5%40.3%
Explore The University of Tampa →
Higher-earnings alternativeBentley University$108,577 earnings
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeBentley University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$108,577+$43,089 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$37,930+$3,198 vs Rollins College · higher cost
Admission rate47.5%45.1%
Explore Bentley University →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Central Florida$10,411 average net price
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeUniversity of Central Florida
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$61,355-$4,133 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$10,411-$24,321 vs Rollins College · lower cost
Admission rate47.5%40.1%
Explore University of Central Florida →
Similar profileCampbell UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Rollins College
MeasureRollins CollegeCampbell University
Peer earnings · 4 years$65,488$63,540-$1,948 vs Rollins College
Average annual net price$34,732$24,516-$10,216 vs Rollins College · lower cost
Admission rate47.5%87.2%

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