10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$191,592at year 10Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
Private nonprofit · COLLEGE PAYOFF
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar, VA · No degree-level outcomes reported
Based onObserved earnings + college priceEstimate10-year payoff
Estimated 10-year payoff
Negative payoff
−$191,592 over 10 years
Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.
42.2 yrsTime to earn back the modeled cost
−76%Estimated return after 10 years
$50,944Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedHighest annual price before payoff reaches $0
Start with your question
What do you want to understand?
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK
Estimated payoff over ten years.
The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.
FEDERAL COST DATA
Four ways to read college price.
Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.
PUBLISHED STUDENT BUDGET · 2024–25
What makes up the annual price?
Sticker-price components reported to IPEDS. Grants and scholarships are not subtracted here.
Living off campus: $8,000 housing and food allowance plus $3,000 in other expenses.
Do not confuse this with net price. Net price subtracts average grants and scholarships. DegreeVerdict continues to use the separately labeled average net price in its standard college ROI scenario.
PRICE SENSITIVITY
The price can change the verdict.
Hold observed earnings constant and see how the modeled ten-year payoff changes as annual price rises.
← Negative payoff$0Positive payoff →
$0Annual price−$120,560
$8,000Annual price−$152,560
$16,000Annual price−$184,560
$18,000Current college-wide context−$192,560
$24,000Annual price−$216,560
$32,000Annual price−$248,560
$40,000Annual price−$280,560
HOW STUDENTS ATTEND · 2023-24
Most students study without distance-education courses.
IPEDS enrollment counts show course delivery across the whole institution. They do not indicate whether a specific degree can be completed online.
Institution-level attendance context from IPEDS. Program delivery is reported separately on degree pages and in the program directory. These figures do not enter ROI.
College identity and local contextAccreditation, institution type, dual enrollment and state prices
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE
Institution details
Current federal characteristics describing the college, not the outcomes of a specific program.
- Accreditor
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
- Main award level
- Bachelor’s degrees
- Campus setting
- Rural
- Admissions
- Selective admission
- Delivery
- Campus or mixed delivery
- Federal designation
- No special designation reported
STATE PRICE CONTEXT · 2024
Prices in Virginia run 1% above the U.S. level.
BEA Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states. A value of 100 equals the national average.
What it costs and what graduates earn
$17,758Average net price / year
$43,898Cost of attendance
$27,000Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$286/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$50,944Median earnings · year 5 after completion
51.8%Completion rate
75.5%Admission rate
1,230Average SAT score
25ACT midpoint
443Student size
Debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. It does not include Parent PLUS or private loans. We show admissions scores only when a valid federal value is available.
What the numbers say about Sweet Briar College
What does Sweet Briar College cost?
Sweet Briar College reports an average annual net price of $17,758 after grants and scholarships. This is an institution-wide average, not an individual aid offer.
What do Sweet Briar College graduates earn?
The observed median earnings figure is $50,944 5 years after completion. It describes a federal cohort, not a guaranteed starting salary.
How much federal debt do Sweet Briar College graduates have?
Completer borrowers report median cumulative federal student debt of $27,000. Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
Is every degree at Sweet Briar College worth the same?
The current release does not contain reportable degree outcomes for Sweet Briar College, so this page cannot compare its individual degrees.
DEBT AFTER COLLEGE
Are borrowers making progress?
Repayment progress, default and debt at exit describe different federal borrower cohorts. They are shown separately and do not change the ROI estimate.
Source: College Scorecard. Repayment progress is the share of borrowers who reduced principal by at least $1 at the stated measurement point. Debt covers federal student loans; Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded. Cohorts and reporting periods differ across measures.
Who studied here during the year
448Students enrolled at any point
448Undergraduate students
Not availableGraduate students
Unduplicated students enrolled at any point from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This full-year measure is different from a fall headcount and does not enter ROI.
More student and earnings detailPrice by family income, retention, equity and common industries
WHO PAYS, WHO FINISHES, WHO EARNS
Outcomes are not the same for every family.
These federal cohorts add context that a single college average can hide. Missing figures remain unreported rather than estimated.
Complete within 150% of the expected time
57% received a Pell Grant within eight yearsMedian Parent PLUS debt
56 parent borrowers in the reported cohortMedian federal student debt
68% making progress in repayment after three yearsStudent family incomeMedian earnings after 10 yearsObserved federal cohorts
Lower income$47,007Earnings are not a guarantee
Middle income$48,523Earnings are not a guarantee
Higher income$59,570Earnings are not a guarantee
Three-year repayment progress
Lower income70%
Middle income70%
Higher income74%
Undergraduate student composition
White70%
Black8%
Hispanic6%
Asian3%
Source: College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Parent PLUS debt belongs to parents; student-debt measures exclude Parent PLUS and private loans. Cohort definitions differ by measure.
INDEPENDENT CENSUS EARNINGS VIEW
How earnings develop by field
Privacy-protected Census employment records follow graduate cohorts one, five and ten years after completion. This source is kept separate from College Scorecard because its population and methodology differ.
Field and credentialYear 1Year 5Year 10
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 52
$42,709Year 1
$68,521Year 5
$84,259Year 10
Anthropology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 45
$39,163Year 1
$55,665Year 5
$66,273Year 10
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 26
Not availableYear 1
$49,582Year 5
$65,986Year 10
Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 50
$33,078Year 1
$43,647Year 5
$62,075Year 10
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 23
$34,473Year 1
$48,878Year 5
$59,848Year 10
Clinical Psychology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 42
Not availableYear 1
$48,487Year 5
$51,223Year 10
Median annual earnings in 2023 dollars. Each time point may use a different pooled graduation cohort. Coverage is limited to institutions participating in the Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes program.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
How this college compares
Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.
EARNINGS OVER TIME
What graduates earned in later years
$21,090Year 1
$52,366Year 4
$50,944Year 5
Each year can represent a different federal cohort, so the points do not track the same people over time.
Comparable colleges in VA
Currently operating private nonprofit institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive, not a quality ranking.
Bridgewater, VA
Bridgewater College
- Annual net price
- $17,800
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $50,477
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -78%
Regent University
- Annual net price
- $19,923
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $49,687
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -82%
Virginia Wesleyan University
- Annual net price
- $19,676
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $48,912
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -85%
Randolph College
- Annual net price
- $15,921
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $47,139
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -91%
No degree-level outcomes are currently reportable.
This college remains in the national directory because it appears in the College Scorecard. Degree outcomes may be unavailable, privacy-suppressed or outside the reported cohorts.
Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.