College Viability Inspection Report

Benedict College

South Carolina · Private, not-for-profit

Benedict College is a private, nonprofit institution in South Carolina, enrolling 1,660 students as of 2024. It graduates 13% of students in four years, returns 57% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $18,665 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 7 are flagged: Retention, Graduation, Equity Gap, Enrollment, Endowment, Tuition Allocation, and Price vs. Outcomes. This report benchmarks Benedict College's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Benedict College Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Benedict College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Benedict College. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate13.0%-13.3%13th
Six-Year Graduation Rate20.0%-31.0%7th
Full-Time Retention Rate57.0%-17.4%10th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate16.9%-37.8%8th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap36.6pp+390.0%98th
Pell Share of Cohort79.9%-6.8%93rd

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio0.94×-6.5%15th
Total FTE Enrollment1,660-19.3%51st
Endowment Value$29.6M+31.6%36th
Net Assets (End of Year)$103.9M+204.8%52nd

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %18.3%-2.6%8th
Student Support Spending %19.3%-0.2%74th
Administrative Spending %38.1%+4.0%93rd
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio0.99×-5.2%8th
Average Net Price$18,665+53.6%48th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$17,177+35.0%65th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$18,686+59.7%71st
Net Price: $48-75K Income$19,295+49.3%64th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$20,250+35.5%49th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$20,328+52.9%29th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Benedict College's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Benedict College's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Benedict College's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10 percentage points in 4 of 5 eligible years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Benedict College's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Benedict College's total enrollment fell from 2,057 to 1,660 students between 2020 and 2024 (-19.3%) — a decline of 5% or more.
Financial HealthTriggered
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Benedict College's endowment is $29.6M, under the $50 million threshold. A smaller endowment leaves less cushion for scholarships and for tough budget years, even though it grew +31.6% over the period.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
Benedict College costs less than the national median AND graduates students at below-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Benedict College spends $0.99 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 5 of 5 reported years.
Value for MoneyTriggered
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Both conditions were met: Benedict College's net price rose while the 6-year graduation rate declined between 2020 and 2024 — a prompt to ask whether tuition increases are translating into stronger student outcomes.
Value for MoneyTriggered