Ave Maria University
About
Ave Maria University (AMU) is a private Catholic university in Ave Maria, Florida, United States. It existed formerly as Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which was founded in 1998 and reestablished in 2007 along with an interim Naples, Florida campus created in 2003. The school was founded by philanthropist and entrepreneur Tom Monaghan. In 2024, the enrollment was 1,326 students. In 2016 its student body was 80% Catholic.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 37 Title IV programs, 5 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 32 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing5 · 13.5%
- No Data32 · 86.5%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
American Academy for Liberal Education
American Academy for Liberal Education
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 1
Action history · 6
- Dec 2025Renewal of AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- May 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jul 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jun 2022Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2021Initial AccreditationAccreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (NUR) - Baccalaureate program
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 356 students received $2.1M in Pell grants, alongside $5.5M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 294 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (0.6%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Ave Maria
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 13
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus4
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Undergraduate Housing 4: St. Francis Xavier1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Ave Maria vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Ave Maria selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectAve Maria University | 54% | — | 1,423 | $23,655 | Baccalaureate |
Albion College | 62% | 80.7% | 1,308 | $16,882 | Baccalaureate |
Amherst College | 94% | 9.0% | 1,914 | $18,246 | Baccalaureate |
Barnard College | 93% | 8.8% | 3,487 | $39,253 | Baccalaureate |
Barry University | 37% | 77.2% | 6,825 | $22,978 | Doctoral/Professional |
Belmont Abbey College | 47% | 74.7% | 1,388 | $23,613 | Baccalaureate |
Benedictine College | 62% | 98.1% | 2,535 | $27,477 | Baccalaureate |
Bethany College | 47% | 58.8% | 640 | $15,306 | Baccalaureate |
College of Saint Benedict | 77% | 91.5% | 1,429 | $28,065 | Baccalaureate |
College of the Atlantic | 68% | 70.2% | 358 | $24,028 | Baccalaureate |
Davidson College | 91% | 13.4% | 1,869 | $18,127 | Baccalaureate |
Eckerd College | 66% | 75.8% | 1,893 | $33,011 | Baccalaureate |
Franciscan University of Steubenville | 75% | 58.4% | 3,976 | $23,987 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs |
Kenyon College | 82% | 31.0% | 2,249 | $29,383 | Baccalaureate |
Mount Marty University | 52% | 42.6% | 1,284 | $23,295 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs |
Saint Anselm College | 80% | 78.0% | 2,111 | $34,744 | Baccalaureate |
Saint Leo University | 44% | 78.4% | 9,692 | $18,467 | Doctoral/Professional |
Thomas Aquinas College | 84% | 83.1% | 566 | $25,032 | Baccalaureate |
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts | 63% | 89.6% | 97 | $21,511 | Baccalaureate |
| Peer group median | 66% | 75.2% | 1,869 | $23,655 |
Ave Maria Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness advances the Ave Maria University mission by providing leadership and support in the areas of accreditation, campus assessment and institutional research. OIE collaboratively collects and provides data and information about the University to internal and external stakeholders through primary and secondary research and coordinates outcomes assessment for the University.
Visit IR office page- Daniel Hubert, Ph.D.Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, SACSCOC Accreditation Liaison
- Grace DeSalvo, M.A.Assistant Director for Institutional Effectiveness
Reports & documents (2)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
- DFR reportIPEDS Data Feedback Report 20242024nces.ed.gov
- FactbookIn-Depth Factbook | Ave Maria University2026The In-Depth Factbook for Ave Maria University provides a comprehensive overview of the institution’s offerings, including a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs detailed with CIP codes. It emphasizes the university's commitment to transparency in student achievement according to SACSCOC standards, reporting key metrics such as retention, graduation rates, and licensure performance for specific programs. Additionally, it outlines the general and financial information relevant to current and prospective students.avemaria.edu
Frequently asked questions about Ave Maria University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Ave Maria.
What is the graduation rate at Ave Maria University?
How many students attend Ave Maria University?
What is the average net price at Ave Maria University?
What is the yield rate at Ave Maria University?
Where is Ave Maria University located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Ave Maria University?
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