🎓 College profile

Paine College

GA · Private nonprofit · Mid-size city · 2,253 applicants 2023

HBCU

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable on average — net price runs around $16,670/yr.

✅ Best for

  • Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
  • Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus
Total enrollment
388
Under 1,000
In-state tuition
$14,596
sticker, before aid
Tuition
$14,596
flat rate (no in/out-of-state split)
Admit rate
83.4%
Accepts the majority
Test policy
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earnings
$33,338
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$25,240
Earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$33,338
4-year completion
14%
Cost of attendance
$27,431
sticker price, not net
Pell-eligible students
76%

💰 True ROI

5.0× return

What families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.

What families actually pay (4 yrs)
$66,680
$16,670/yr avg net
Aid that hides behind the sticker
$43,044
vs sticker $109,724
10-yr earnings total
$333,380
$33,338/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup actual cost
2.0 yrs
at the median earnings rate

"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).

💰 What families actually pay

Net price by family income

Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At Paine College, the average net price is $16,670/yr across all families.

Family income $0-30k
$15,322/yr
Family income $30-48k
$14,959/yr
Family income $48-75k
$17,233/yr
Family income $75-110k
$23,604/yr
Family income $110k+
$20,388/yr

🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use Paine College's official Net Price Calculator:

Get your family's estimate from Paine College →

Opens on Paine College's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at Paine College

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Paine College actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
14 degrees · 66.7%
Typical career outcomes
Financial Analyst $100k Management Analyst (Consultant) $99k Marketing Manager $158k Accountant / Auditor $80k
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Psychology
3 degrees · 14.3%
Typical career outcomes
HR Specialist $68k Market Research Analyst $75k Clinical Psychologist (post-PhD) $93k Social Worker $58k
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
3. Social Sciences
2 degrees · 9.5%
Typical career outcomes
Economist $118k Political Scientist $130k Sociologist $93k Market Research Analyst $75k
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
4. Communication, Journalism, & Related
1 degrees · 4.8%
Typical career outcomes
Public Relations Specialist $67k Marketing Manager $158k Writer / Editor $75k Reporter / Journalist $58k
Media, PR, marketing communications. Salary spread is wide.
5. English Language & Literature
1 degrees · 4.8%
Typical career outcomes
Technical Writer $80k Editor $75k Writer / Author $74k Public Relations Specialist $67k
Writing-heavy roles. Variance is huge — corporate technical writers pay 2× journalists.

Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.

⚖️ Compare side-by-side

Paine College vs. another college

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