Rhodes College

Overview

Rankings

• #2 Best Computer Science Colleges in Tennessee
• #2 Best Biology Colleges in Tennessee
• #2 Best Data Science Colleges in Tennessee
• #3 Best Colleges in Tennessee
• #4 Best Bachelor's Programs in Tennessee
• #4 Best Master's Programs in Tennessee
• #12 Best Psychology Colleges in Tennessee
• #15 Best Nursing Colleges in Tennessee

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Rhodes College? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Rhodes College, located in Memphis, Tennessee, offers a realistic path to admission, with roughly 50% of applicants receiving an offer. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,362. The graduation rate is roughly 83%.

Acceptance Rate

50%

Retention Rate

92%

SAT Average

1362

ACT Midpoint

30

SAT Range

1300–1486

ACT Range

26–32

Full-Time Faculty

85%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$9,481

Student–Faculty Ratio

9:1

Diversity Index

0.63

First-Gen Students

13%

Applicants

5,253

Admitted

2,832

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Rhodes College is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 23% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

23%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

20%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

35%

of enrolled freshmen

Early Decision Admit Rate

54.6%

vs 68.1% overall

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Rhodes College? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Rhodes College is $57,110, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $28,585. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $15,770 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $21,761 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$57,110

Out-of-State

$57,110

Avg Net Price

$28,585

Median Debt

$21,761

Pell Grant Rate

16%

Federal Loan Rate

51%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Rhodes College — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Rhodes College Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Rhodes College earn a median of $66,651, roughly in line with the national average for college graduates.

6 Years After Entry

$48,898

8 Years

$64,735

10 Years

$66,651

Debt-to-Earnings

0.33x

Earning > $25K

71%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Rhodes College Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Rhodes College is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.26%, well above the typical college. Access is narrower: only about 2.2% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 57.9% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $164,400, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.26%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

57.9%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

2.2%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$223,362

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Rhodes College? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Rhodes College. Its economic connectedness score is 1.76, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.00), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 14% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.76

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

14.1%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$2,925,993

Investment Income

$-24,037,444

Top Programs

The fields Rhodes College awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Social Sciences 21% $54,760 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 19% $31,771 early-career
• Business & Marketing 11% $57,826 early-career
• Physical Sciences 9%
• Computer Science & IT 7% $73,093 early-career
• Psychology 7% $28,100 early-career
• English & Literature 4% $35,787 early-career
• Health Professions 4%

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.