Oakwood University

Oakwood University is a private non-profit institution located in Huntsville, Alabama, with an enrollment of approximately 1,153 students. The school admits a selective but accessible share of applicants — its 45.2% acceptance rate means roughly four in ten applicants are not admitted. Of those who enroll, 71.1% return for the following year, and 44.6% ultimately complete a credential.

Tuition is $22,512 per year regardless of whether a student is an in-state or out-of-state resident. The average annual net price — the total estimated cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, and living expenses, after grant and scholarship aid is applied — is $25,669. This figure can exceed published tuition because it accounts for all costs, not just tuition. About 44.4% of students receive Pell Grants, indicating a significant share of the student body has demonstrated financial need.

Among students who borrow federal loans to attend, the median debt at completion is $27,000. However, the three-year loan repayment rate — the share of borrowers whose loan balances are actually decreasing — stands at 28.4%, meaning a majority of borrowers are not reducing their principal within three years of entering repayment. Additionally, 56.9% of all enrolled students (not just those who completed) take out federal student loans, which is worth considering when evaluating overall borrowing exposure at this school.

Median earnings, measured ten years after initial enrollment, are $42,488. This figure covers all federally-aided students who enrolled, including those who did not complete a credential, so it reflects a broad range of outcomes rather than the earnings of graduates alone. Prospective students should keep that context in mind when using this number for planning purposes.

Oakwood offers programs in a number of career-relevant fields. On the technology side, the school has programs related to areas such as AI and machine learning engineering, cloud architecture, data science, and DevOps. It also offers training in fields like epidemiology and financial analysis, among others. These represent a portion of the school's career-focused offerings, which span more than a dozen fields relevant to current labor market demand.