Notes

These are items that bear looking into more closely.

• This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 61.5%, so approximately 2/5 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.

• There are apparently no tenure stream faculty. This can indicate a risk to academic freedom and thus educational quality, as faculty members may be able to lose their positions because of their speech, publications, or research findings.

• This institution’s full-time undergraduate enrollment has tended to decrease over time.

Overview of institution

This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.

• Institution kind: Master’s Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs

• Undergrad program: Professions plus arts & sciences, some graduate coexistence

• Graduate program: Postbaccalaureate: Other-dominant, with other professional programs

• Enrollment profile: Very high undergraduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $24,332 (1.2 times the equivalent cost of Harvard).

• Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.

• Size and setting: Four-year, small, highly residential

• In state percentage: 18% of first year students come from Tennessee

• In US percentage: 99% of first year students come from the US

• This institution has a religious affiliation of Seventh Day Adventist

• Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 61.5% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 36.1%

• Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 3.9%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: Unknown (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 15.2 (undergrads to all faculty)

• Degrees offered: Certificate of at least 1 year but less than 2 years, Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: professional practice

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 1600 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: No

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 3 percent or less of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.

Map

Comparisons

The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.

• Southern Adventist University lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Walla Walla University, Andrews University, Washington Adventist University
• Southern Adventist University compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Lee University, Trevecca Nazarene University, Oakwood University, Southwestern Adventist University, Pacific Union College, La Sierra University, Union Adventist University, Tusculum University
• These institutions compare themselves to Southern Adventist University, but not vice versa: Spring Hill College, Baptist Health Sciences University, University of Dubuque, Thomas More University, Flagler College, Hodges University, Lynn University, Edward Waters University, Wingate University

Diversity

The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.

Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).

These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.

Test scores

Majors

This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.