🎓 College profile
University of the Cumberlands
KY · Private nonprofit · Remote town · 4,281 applicants 2023
🧭 A parent's read
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 4× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full ~$25,567/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$45,036/yr) still runs about 4× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything.
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
🎯 Parent/student verdict
LikelyAccessible for most applicants. Heavy discounting — aid recipients average ~$14,107/yr net; strong students should also check the merit grid.
✅ Best for
- Students drawn to Liberal Arts, Humanities, & General Studies or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 The real cost
What families at your income actually pay
Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $18,846/yr at University of the Cumberlands; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$25,567/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.
🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.
Start your Family Decision Report →Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with University of the Cumberlands's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).
📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways
4.4× at full price 8.0× with aidSource: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at University of the Cumberlands
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of the Cumberlands actually graduates — not just what it markets.
💼 What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of the Cumberlands's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | $94,183 |
| Business/Commerce, General. | $59,760 |
| Biology, General. | $59,702 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | $45,660 |
| Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions. | $45,061 |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections. | $41,785 |
| Psychology, General. | $40,751 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | $40,699 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | $40,093 |
| Religious Education. | $39,211 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
📈 Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at University of the Cumberlands
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to University of the Cumberlands
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