College · Private nonprofit · Augusta, GA · City
Paine College
Augusta, GA
HBCUReligious affiliation
Admit rate95%
6-yr median pay$25k
Net price / yr$17k
Undergrad size388
§ I · The real read
What it's actually like.
The bet
Net price of $17k/yr for a shot at a $25k first-5-year salary. Math out whether that works for you — it does for some people, not for others.
Getting in
Admit rate of 95% means this is workable if your grades and essays are solid.
If you get in
388 undergrads. Tiny. Every professor will know your name.
Where you live
City campus — public transit, off-campus food, weekends happen nearby.
§ II · Cost & aid
Sticker vs. real.
Sticker cost of attendance is $27k/yr. After need-based aid, the average student pays $17k/yr. Merit aid varies. Run your EFC calculator before you rule anything out.
Sticker · 4 yrs$110k
Before any aid.
Net · 4 yrs$67k
What the average student pays.
Typical aid$43k
Difference over 4 years — higher for lower-income households.
Payback2.6x
4-yr net price ÷ first-5-year salary. Lower is better.
Where the money goes · annual sticker.
- Tuition · in-state
- $14.6k
- Room & board
- $7.5k
- Books & supplies
- $2,500
How students pay for it.
Pell grants76%
Share of undergrads on federal Pell grants.
Federal loans76%
Share taking out federal student loans.
3-yr default0%
Low — grads tend to pay on time.
§ III · Outcomes
Do people finish? Do they land?
1-yr retention54%
Watch this number.
Graduation · 6 yr14%
A meaningful chunk do not finish — ask why.
6-yr median pay$25k
Cross-major. Your major's number can be very different.
10-yr median pay$33k
Ten years out — where grads tend to land career-wise.
Transfer out36%
Share of full-time students who transfer to another school.
§ IV · Campus & identity
Setting, size, and who this school is.
- Setting
- City
- Control
- Private nonprofit
- Undergrad size
- 388
- Location
- Augusta, GA
- Region
- Southeast (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
- Carnegie class
- Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus
- Size & setting
- Four-year · very small · highly residential
- Undergrad program
- Four-year · full-time, inclusive, higher transfer-in
- Accreditor
- Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools
Identity
HBCUReligious affiliation
§ · Who studies here
The student body at a glance.
First-gen students38%
Share whose parents didn't complete college.
Part-time9%
Mostly a full-time student body.
Median family income$22k
Of enrolled students' households — useful for aid context.
§ V · Majors offered here · 21
What you can study.