Is Emory & Henry University Worth It?

Emory & Henry gives you a mixed-to-weak financial return. You pay a private-school net price and come out earning near the national median for all workers, not the premium a private degree is supposed to buy. The median debt is manageable against those earnings, but the payoff is thin, and the 69% retention rate means roughly a third of your classmates don't come back for a second year.

The program data makes the problem concrete. Business Administration tops the list, yet its early earnings sit below what many state schools pay for the same major. Sociology, Communication and Media Studies, and Psychology all land under $30k a decade out, and Psychology bottoms the list at $25,967 while carrying nearly $27,000 in debt. If you enroll in one of those three majors, you are borrowing private-college money for outcomes that don't cover it. Business is your best financial bet here, and even that is modest.

The specific risk is the gap between price and result combined with a 54% graduation rate. If you take on the full debt load and leave without the degree, you get the bill without the earnings. The rural southwest Virginia location also limits nearby high-paying employers, so your job search likely means relocating.

The net price tiers are unusually flat. Families earning under $30k pay $17,348, only about $6,000 less than families over $110k. There is little discount for low income here, so if your family income is low, the aid does not stretch as far as it might elsewhere.

This school fits you if you want a small private campus, will finish, and pick Business. Look elsewhere if you're aiming at Psychology, Sociology, or Communication and want the numbers to work.