Shaw University
Raleigh, NC
Shaw University is a private, historically Black Baptist university in Raleigh, North Carolina, a large city, with 875 undergraduates. Kinesiology and communication are its signature fields: together they make up 28% of its bachelor's degrees, about four times their share across the colleges we cover. 22% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $34,409 ten years after starting.
Shaw University admitted 3,261 of 10,699 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (30.5%).
- Acceptance rate
- 30.5%
- Fall 2023 class
- Tuition and fees
- $17,538
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $16,512
- Average, students with aid
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Shaw University is known for
Measured by the 184 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Kinesiology
16.3%
of its bachelor's degrees: about six times the 2.6% share across the colleges we cover.
Communication
11.4%
of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 4.5% share across the colleges we cover.
- Business Administration, Management and Operations4021.7% of degrees$47,401−31% vs $68,257 nationally
- Communication and Media Studies2111.4% of degrees$28,545−49% vs $56,359 nationally
- Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness2010.9% of degrees$44,010−19% vs $54,562 nationally
- Criminal Justice and Corrections168.7% of degrees$43,299−22% vs $55,378 nationally
- Social Work168.7% of degrees$46,981−9% vs $51,790 nationally
- Psychology147.6% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Large city
Raleigh, NC
Undergraduates
875
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Baccalaureate college, diverse fields
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
14 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
9%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Shaw University
Three things Shaw University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Shaw University reports that test scores are not considered at all.
That is the school’s own answer on the form it fills in every year. A score you send is not read as part of the decision here.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
The admit rate fell from 52% to 30% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.
Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023
Families paid $16,512 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
30.5%
3,261 admitted of 10,699 applicants
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Shaw University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Shaw University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $17,538, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $30,861. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $16,512 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$17,538
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$30,861
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$16,512
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $30,861 full cost.
- Under $30k$16,236Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$16,276Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$21,145Typical public university: $13,703
- Over $110k$24,966Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
22%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
52%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$34,409
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$32,500
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate fell from 52% to 30%.
What Shaw University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Essayconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Test scores
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in North Carolina
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts33.1%
- Carolina University34%
- Brevard College39.5%
- North Carolina State University at Raleigh39.5%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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