College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Saint Edward's University

TXMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #707 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Saint Edward's University in the 52nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Saint Edward's University is a private nonprofit university in Austin, Texas, whose degree mix is led by Business, Psychology, and Communication & Journalism, with access, its strongest , above average. Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes that advantage about evenly to the factors it measures and to what it cannot explain.

The typical graduate earns below the median at comparable institutions, so the raw and adjusted results pull in opposite directions. Affordability is modestly below average, and 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 within a fraction of a point of the overall rate, and access is above average. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study.

A student drawn to the largest programs should go in knowing that the best-paid ones are in business.

Saint Edward's University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
81.4%
Six-year completion[2]
62.6%
Four-year earnings[3]
$59,999

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$22,944
Median student debt[4]
$24,803
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$28,135

Saint Edward's University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Enrolling 2,493 undergraduates, Saint Edward's University is a private nonprofit university in Austin, Texas. Azimuth places the institution near the middle of the ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (52nd percentile).

The four pillars are spread across a wide range. Applicants are admitted at a rate of 81.4%, above the peer median of 71.2% for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Among full-time first-year students, 79.7% return after the first year, below the peer median of 83.4%. The six-year graduation rate is 62.6%, below the peer median of 68.8%.

An estimated 29.1% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes only those who started here as first-time full-time students. Access is the strongest pillar (67th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (27th percentile).

Return sits in the upper half of the field (62nd percentile) and mobility in the lower half (44th percentile). The distance between the highest and lowest pillars is substantial.

Access is the strongest part of Saint Edward's University’s profile, while affordability is the weakest and merits close attention when comparing costs. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, access is in the 67th percentile and return is in the 62nd percentile.

Mobility stands in the 44th percentile, whereas affordability is in the 27th percentile. Stronger access and return sit beside a substantially weaker affordability measure.

42.4% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Among enrolled students who submitted test scores, the middle 50% of SAT results fell between 970 and 1,240.

The comparable ACT range ran from 22 to 28. Azimuth ranks Saint Edward's University #480 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 62.1%, below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (62.6%) by 0.5 percentage points. Azimuth ranks the university #815 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Saint Edward's University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#707
Texas#50
South#241

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 44
Access & reach
National percentile: 67
Affordability
National percentile: 27
Return on investment
National percentile: 62

01 / Saint Edward's University briefing

Saint Edward's University cost & financial aid[6][7]

Saint Edward's University carries a substantial published price, although aid reduces the amount faced by the average aid recipient. The published cost of attendance is $66,719, including $51,384 in tuition and fees and $14,248 for room and board.

Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $25,578. Financial aid offsets $41,141 of the sticker price on average.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371, making Saint Edward's average $1,793 below that benchmark. Azimuth places the affordability pillar in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The school sits slightly below its peer price benchmark, but its affordability standing remains a weaker part of the overall picture.

At Saint Edward's University, the published cost of attendance is $66,719, with aid-recipient costs varying widely across family-income bands. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $20,799 in the lowest family-income band, $20,136 in the lower-middle band, $22,944 in the middle band, $26,687 in the upper-middle band, and $38,389 in the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $17,590, and Azimuth ranks the university #1,026 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 62% of the published cost, or average savings of $41,141 against the sticker price.

Across all aid recipients, the is $25,578, which is $1,793 below the peer median of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition and fees are $51,384, so the average aid offset accounts for much of the difference between the sticker charge and net price.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $24,803, and 88.9% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. That median is $604 above the $24,199 peer median at comparable institutions (same type and size).

Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $28,135. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $282 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$22,944

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Saint Edward's University

At Saint Edward's University, federal borrowing reaches 88.9% of federal aid recipients, making loans a common part of the financing picture. For completers with federal loans, median federal student loan debt at completion is $24,803.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $24,199; the university's median is $604 above it. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $28,135.

The median earnings for Saint Edward's University graduates sit at $59,999 four years after completion, measured among federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. That figure sits at the 51st percentile.

That is $8,251 below the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). On the earnings side, graduates of Saint Edward's University earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students.

That gap is at the 68th percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, span from $50,296 on the downside to $81,069 on the upside, with $59,999 as the typical estimate.

Borrowers who complete leave with a median of $24,803 in federal loans, $604 above the $24,199 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $282 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $28,135, a separate federal borrowing population from student borrowers. For a borrower at the median federal debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $282 a month if repaid over ten years.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$24,803
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$28,135

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$282/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$357/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 / Saint Edward's University briefing

Saint Edward's University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

The return picture combines higher-than-expected earnings with a median that trails comparable institutions. At Saint Edward's University, graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result sits in the 68th percentile, while Azimuth places the return pillar in the 62nd 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 $1,984.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $1,906. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled have median earnings of $59,999 four years after completion, in the 51st percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, placing the university $8,251 below it. The model result and peer comparison point in different directions.

Federally aided graduates of Saint Edward's University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $59,999 four years after finishing, based on a cohort of 978 completers. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that median is at the 51st percentile.

The median is $8,251 below the $68,250 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result places the earnings beyond expectations measure at the 68th percentile. The program mix yields earnings scenarios of $59,999 in typical cases, $50,296 on the downside and $81,069 on the upside.

Based on the program mix, an estimated 29.8% of graduates continue to graduate study.

The median for federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled is $59,999 four years after completion, a figure at the 51st percentile. The peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $68,250, leaving the university $8,251 below that mark.

Azimuth ranks Saint Edward's University #559 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the earnings gap at the 68th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. So the earnings advantage holds against what the model expects for similar students, even though raw earnings sit below the peer median.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $1,984. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $1,906.

The STEM element inside the measured factors adds $905. The program mix leans heavily toward business and the social sciences, with a relatively small STEM footprint overall.

Earnings scenarios estimated from that mix run from a downside of $50,296 to an upside of $81,069 overall. Based on the program mix, an estimated 29.8% of graduates go on to graduate study.

The possible earnings picture differs sharply by field at Saint Edward's University. The downside and upside earnings scenarios run from $50,296 to $81,069; they are scenarios built from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

Computer Science is at $87,890, and Accounting is at $83,957. These field medians show a wide spread within the university's published program results.

Earnings beyond expectations coexist with debt above the peer figure, leaving a mixed financial picture at Saint Edward's University. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $24,803.

For comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median, the middle value for those institutions, is $24,199, and the university's debt is above it by $604. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $282 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $25,578.

Across family-income bands, the average is $20,799 for the lowest band; $20,136 for the next; $22,944 for the middle; $26,687 for the next-highest; and $38,389 for the highest band. The overall average net price is below the $27,371 peer median by $1,793.

Lower average price than peers contrasts with higher borrower debt, even as graduates exceed the model's expectation.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$1,984
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$1,906
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$3,890

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 / Saint Edward's University briefing

Saint Edward's University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Saint Edward's University admitted 81.4% of applicants in the reported entering class, a rate above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). That comparison describes how the reported outcome differed from similar institutions, without predicting an individual decision.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
81.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
970
Reported average
1138
Approximate upper endpoint
1240

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 / Saint Edward's University briefing

What are the largest majors at Saint Edward's University?[12]

Earnings differ sharply among the larger and higher-earning fields at Saint Edward's University, four years after completion. Finance sits at the high end, with median earnings of $90,286 and 31 degrees awarded.

Computer Science also posts median earnings of $87,890 across 21 degrees awarded. Accounting records $83,957 in median earnings and 30 degrees awarded, while Psychology represents a more moderate-earning field at $53,373 with 77 degrees awarded.

The contrast shows that the school-level earnings picture can look quite different depending on the field chosen.

Published earnings cover 23 bachelor’s fields, and the highest figures are concentrated in business-related options. Marketing awarded 35 degrees and showed $80,562. These figures give the clearest earnings range within the available program data.

The degree mix at Saint Edward's University is anchored by business and the social sciences. Business accounts for 23.4% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Psychology at 10.1% and Communication & Journalism at 10.0%.

The university has 23 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Psychology, at 77 degrees awarded, with Communication and Media Studies next at 59 and Business Administration and Management at 55.

The highest-earning programs are concentrated in business and technology. Finance graduates report the top median earnings at $90,286 four years after completion, from 31 degrees awarded.

Computer Science follows at $87,890, with 21 degrees awarded, and Accounting at $83,957 from 30 degrees awarded. Marketing rounds out the top earners at $80,562, from 35 degrees awarded.

The pattern is one of a few high-earning business programs alongside a larger set of social science and communication fields with more moderate earnings. Psychology, the largest program, earns $53,373, while the highest earner, Finance, awards fewer than half as many degrees.

15.5% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the earnings profile reflects a large business share and a smaller STEM share. Four-year earnings for fields where graduate study is common may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 77 degrees awarded
$53,373
Communication and Media Studies 59 degrees awarded
$54,558
Business Administration, Management and Operations 55 degrees awarded
$70,706
Neurobiology and Neurosciences 37 degrees awarded
$50,936
Design and Applied Arts 35 degrees awarded
$54,297
Marketing 35 degrees awarded
$80,562

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 / Saint Edward's University briefing

How does Saint Edward's University serve students from different backgrounds?

Saint Edward's University posts a 62.6% six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort; Pell recipients complete within six years at 62.1%, below the overall rate by 0.5 percentage points. Azimuth places its mobility pillar in the 44th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $3,890 more than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth puts earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, in the 68th percentile.

Similar completion rates by Pell status sit alongside higher-than-expected earnings.

Saint Edward's University admits 81.4% of applicants, and its undergraduate enrollment is 2,493 undergraduates. Pell Grants go to 42.4% of undergraduates, a financial-access measure, while an estimated 29.1% enter as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Admission, Pell participation, and transfer entry show several routes into the university.

06 / Saint Edward's University briefing

What colleges are similar to Saint Edward's 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 Saint Edward's University.

Admissions peerThe University of Texas at San Antonio86.8% admitted
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversityThe University of Texas at San Antonio
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$60,333+$334 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$10,836-$14,742 vs Saint Edward's University · lower cost
Admission rate81.4%86.8%
Explore The University of Texas at San Antonio →
Higher-admission alternativeSt. Mary's University97.8% admitted
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversitySt. Mary's University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$58,545-$1,454 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$21,145-$4,433 vs Saint Edward's University · lower cost
Admission rate81.4%97.8%
Nearby alternativeUniversity of the Incarnate WordNearby option · TX
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversityUniversity of the Incarnate Word
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$63,004+$3,005 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$22,775-$2,803 vs Saint Edward's University · lower cost
Admission rate81.4%98.1%
Explore University of the Incarnate Word →
Higher-earnings alternativeMolloy University$96,058 earnings
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversityMolloy University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$96,058+$36,059 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$24,347-$1,231 vs Saint Edward's University · lower cost
Admission rate81.4%81.7%
Explore Molloy University →
Lower-cost alternativeThe University of Texas at San Antonio$10,836 average net price
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversityThe University of Texas at San Antonio
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$60,333+$334 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$10,836-$14,742 vs Saint Edward's University · lower cost
Admission rate81.4%86.8%
Explore The University of Texas at San Antonio →
Similar profileDallas Baptist UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Saint Edward's University
MeasureSaint Edward's UniversityDallas Baptist University
Peer earnings · 4 years$59,999$59,308-$691 vs Saint Edward's University
Average annual net price$25,578$28,516+$2,938 vs Saint Edward's University · higher cost
Admission rate81.4%88.8%

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