About
Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as a school to educate freedmen and their children. It was the first independent institution of higher education and the first historically black college in the State of Florida. It continues to be affiliated with the AME Church and is a member of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida.
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
Non-Pell students graduate at a 25.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 24 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 24 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data24 · 100.0%
- 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.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Action history · 9
- Dec 2025Renewal of AccreditationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Mar 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jun 2022Grant Substantive Change: DegreeSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jun 2022Grant Substantive Change: DegreeSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
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, 854 students received $5.3M in Pell grants, alongside $7.6M 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 382 borrowers who entered repayment, 34 (8.9%) defaulted within three years — above 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 Edward Waters
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 · 9
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 campus5
- Public property9
Includes 1 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Ethnicity3
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Edward Waters vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Edward Waters 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectEdward Waters University | 28% | — | 1,177 | $13,580 | Baccalaureate |
Allen University | 13% | 72.5% | 610 | $11,081 | Baccalaureate |
Dillard University | 43% | 41.9% | 1,080 | $18,553 | Baccalaureate |
Florida Memorial University | 31% | 85.3% | 1,277 | $18,675 | Baccalaureate |
Jarvis Christian University | 15% | — | 622 | $10,409 | Baccalaureate |
Johnson C Smith University | 34% | 45.2% | 1,302 | $20,011 | Baccalaureate |
Le Moyne-Owen College | 32% | 99.2% | 659 | $8,992 | Baccalaureate |
Livingstone College | 28% | 59.2% | 936 | $15,662 | Baccalaureate |
Miles College | 16% | — | 1,180 | $14,514 | Baccalaureate |
Morris College | 17% | — | 383 | $20,375 | Baccalaureate |
Rust College | 12% | 48.7% | 467 | $8,751 | Baccalaureate |
Shaw University | 22% | 80.2% | 964 | $14,083 | Baccalaureate |
Stillman College | 25% | 62.2% | 731 | $12,272 | Baccalaureate |
Talladega College | 31% | 85.4% | 760 | $13,461 | Baccalaureate |
Tougaloo College | 33% | 59.9% | 1,301 | $15,663 | Baccalaureate |
Voorhees University | 43% | 65.4% | 578 | $15,411 | Baccalaureate |
| Peer group median | 28% | 63.8% | 848 | $14,299 |
Edward Waters Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Operations provides official institutional statistics, analyses, and research to support and improve management decision-making on campus.
Visit IR office page- Dr. Michael T. WestVice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Operations, Systems Management and Process Optimization
- Bernice Parker-BellDirector of Institutional Effectiveness
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Notable alumni of Edward Waters (5)
A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.
- Tracie Davis
- Dennis P. Gallon
- Mercedes Gilbert
- Betty Holzendorf
- Buck O'Neil
Frequently asked questions about Edward Waters University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Edward Waters.
What is the graduation rate at Edward Waters University?
How many students attend Edward Waters University?
What is the average net price at Edward Waters University?
What is the yield rate at Edward Waters University?
Where is Edward Waters University located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Edward Waters University?
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