BaccalaureatePrivate nonprofit

Lees-McRae College

Banner Elk, North Carolina·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·lmc.edu
6-yr Graduation
42%
+13.0pp vs Baccalaureate
Total enrollment
910
peer median 776
Avg net price
$25,765
+$6.2k vs Baccalaureate
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
2,084
2,084 candidates competed
Admitted
1,600
76.8% acceptance rate
Enrolled
223
13.9% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
42%+13.0pp vs Baccalaureate
4-year graduation
37%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
42%
Full-time retention
69%

Pell equity

2.0pp gap
Pell recipients
38%
Non-Pell
36%

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 33 Title IV programs, 7 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 26 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
33
Passing
7
21.2% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

33programs
  • Passing7 · 21.2%
  • No Data26 · 78.8%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
1
Safe
6
No data
26

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.

7
Zoology/Animal Biology
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
+20.2%
$38,699 vs $32,203
Human Services General
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
+34.4%
$43,273 vs $32,203
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
+37.1%
$44,161 vs $32,203
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Bachelor Degree · Education
+42.4%
$45,862 vs $32,203
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Bachelor Degree · Security And Protective Services
+55.5%
$50,085 vs $32,203
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
+86.7%
$60,108 vs $32,203
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+171.8%
$87,523 vs $32,203

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

7
Psychology General
Bachelor Degree · Psychology
62%
$27,500 debt · $44,161 earn
Zoology/Animal Biology
Bachelor Degree · Biological And Biomedical Sciences
58%
$22,233 debt · $38,699 earn
Business Administration Management and Operations
Bachelor Degree · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
39%
$23,250 debt · $60,108 earn
Human Services General
Bachelor Degree · Public Administration And Social Service Professions
35%
$15,250 debt · $43,273 earn
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Bachelor Degree · Education
33%
$15,000 debt · $45,862 earn
Criminal Justice and Corrections
Bachelor Degree · Security And Protective Services
31%
$15,750 debt · $50,085 earn
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
23%
$19,750 debt · $87,523 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1953Next review Jun 2031

Programmatic accreditations · 4

Action history · 8

  1. Dec 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  2. Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  3. May 2024Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  4. Nov 2022Grant Substantive Change: Program
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
  5. Dec 2021Heightened Monitoring or Focused Review
    Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$18,829
$30–48k$21,139
$48–75k$20,899
$75–110k$26,761
$110k+$29,115

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$25,765
+$6,207vs Baccalaureate median $19,558
Federal loans
86.6%
In-state tuition
$31,140
Out-of-state
$31,140

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 404 students received $2.4M in Pell grants, alongside $7.6M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
404
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$2.4M
$2,350,233 total
Direct Loans
$7.6M
1,130 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

0k
20
0k
21
0k
22
0k
23
0k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$1.8M
477 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$1.5M
454 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$202K
16 loan awards
Parent PLUS$4.0M
183 loan awards

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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 349 borrowers who entered repayment, 5 (1.4%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.4%
-0.9pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
349
Defaulted
5
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
7.1%
2017
6.6%
2018
6.9%
2019
1.4%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* 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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Lees-McRae College

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs28
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

205 total completions
01Biological Sciences
5526.8%
02Security/Protective
3014.6%
03Parks/Recreation
2713.2%
04Education
2110.2%
05Public Admin
209.8%
06Business
209.8%
07Psychology
115.4%
08Agriculture
104.9%
09Communication
62.9%
10Health Professions
52.4%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
910
12-mo unduplicated
888
Undergraduate
862
Graduate
26

Gender split

Men
33%297
Women
67%591

Race / ethnicity composition

White
74.1%
Black
8.3%
Hispanic
5.3%
Non-resident
4.0%
Unknown
4.0%
Asian
1.7%
Two or more
1.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.9%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.2%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

Athletes
352
194 M · 158 W
Women athletes
44.9%
Athletic aid
$2.9M
Total student aid
Budget
$4.9M
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$1.5M
$1.4M
Recruiting expense
$9K
$13K
Head-coach salaries
$44K
$50K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 9

Other Sports
54 M · 17 W
$719K
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)
41 M · 27 W
$511K
Soccer
32 M · 33 W
$773K
Basketball
37 M · 14 W
$1.1M
Lacrosse
22 M · 14 W
$367K
Volleyball
19 M · 13 W
$430K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
4.68
4 offenses · 855 students

3-year trend

3.582 yrs ago9.161 yr ago4.68Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
15
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
10
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
3
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Rape
2
Fondling
2

By location

4total
  • On campus4

Includes 4 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
0
Dating violence
1
Stalking
1 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

  • Gender2
  • Gender identity1

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs024
Liquor019

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
11.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
61

Lees-McRae College vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Lees-McRae College selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

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
SubjectLees-McRae College
42%910$25,765Baccalaureate
Livingstone College
28%59.2%936$15,662Baccalaureate
St. Andrews University
27%64.8%676$33,756Baccalaureate
Brevard College
49%42.2%875$21,376Baccalaureate
Saint Augustine's University
25%33.8%175$17,740Baccalaureate
Chowan University
30%68.8%675$16,189Baccalaureate
Peer group median29%59.2%776$19,558

Frequently asked questions about Lees-McRae College

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Lees-McRae College.

What is the graduation rate at Lees-McRae College?

Lees-McRae College reports a 6-year graduation rate of 42% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Lees-McRae College?

Lees-McRae College reports a total enrollment of 910 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Lees-McRae College?

The average net price at Lees-McRae College is $25,765 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Lees-McRae College?

Lees-McRae College's yield rate is 13.9%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Lees-McRae College located?

Lees-McRae College is located in Banner Elk, North Carolina 28604.

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