This article will not tell you whether Cumberland University is “the right one” for your son. That depends on three things only you know: what he wants to study, what he has accomplished so far, and what your family can and is willing to pay. What I can do is clearly lay out what official United States government data says about this university. It is one piece of the map. Not the whole map.
Who Cumberland University Is and Where It Stands
Cumberland University is in Lebanon, Tennessee, in Wilson County. The area around the campus is classified as a town, near an urban area but not within it. If your family does not live nearby, it is worth separately figuring out where your son would live and how he would get to campus. The data only locates the school’s address; it says nothing about your commute or where he would live.
It is a private, nonprofit institution offering programs of four years or more. The Carnegie system, which classifies United States universities by what they do, describes it as a small, primarily residential master’s university with medium programs: at the time of that measurement, between 25 and 49 out of every 100 undergraduate students lived in institution-owned housing, and at least half studied full time. The government also records that it reports offering programs through the master’s degree level, although this is general institutional information: it does not tell you whether your son’s specific major exists or whether it connects undergraduate and graduate study. You verify that by asking directly about the program.
Here is something worth emphasizing carefully: in its undergraduate profile, Carnegie places Cumberland University among the more selective schools. Admission is not automatic. But “more selective” describes whom it admits, not how well it teaches. It does not tell you how many out of every hundred applicants are admitted—we will look at that later—and it is also no reason for this to be the only university on your son’s list.
Another note that matters: Cumberland University is not recorded as a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), a Tribal College or University, or a land-grant institution. Of the 3,012 universities in this directory, 138 have at least one of those three designations; this one is not among them. That does not say which students it serves or how your son would feel on that campus. Having none of those labels does not mean it does not serve a particular community, nor does it mean the opposite. Ask directly which cultural centers and student organizations exist today.
The Size of the Community and Who Makes It Up
Cumberland University had 3,072 students enrolled in the official fall count. It is a medium-sized school—with enrollment between 1,000 and 4,999—and, compared with 941 similar selective private schools, it is on the larger side: between one and three out of every ten schools in that group have more students. Of the total, 2,652 are undergraduates and 420 are graduate students. Above all, it is a bachelor’s degree institution.
It is worth saying clearly: being large does not mean more options, and being small does not mean more attention for your son. What matters is asking about the specific major, not the size of the institution as a whole.
And who studies there? Among the undergraduate students reported in the fall of 2023, 9 out of every 100 are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority and, compared with 941 similar selective private schools, it falls below the midpoint of the group. Having few Latino students does not make the school bad, and having many would not make it good on its own. This number describes who is enrolled today, and nothing more. If your son will be one of the few, it makes sense to ask which groups and support services exist and to speak with a Latino student who is already there before deciding.
Other facts about this same community: there are more women than men—56 out of every 100 undergraduates—students ages 25 through 64 are a minority (5 out of every 100), and 88 out of every 100 first-time students came from the same state of Tennessee when they applied. It is largely a local community.
How the Academic Year Works and What Degrees Are Awarded There
The year at Cumberland University is organized into semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each. In its most recent report, the university stated that it accepts prior credit through two routes: AP exams and what IPEDS calls “credit for life experience”—learning acquired through independent study, adult courses, work experience, a portfolio, prior licenses or certifications, or military, government, or professional opportunities. It also reports accepting credit for military training and enrolls high school students in college courses through a formal dual-enrollment program.
Stating that it accepts AP does not mean your son will receive credit for any exam. We do not know what scores are required or how many credits are awarded. Request the equivalency evaluation in writing before he enrolls, and do not count those savings in your budget until you have it in hand.
In a recent year, the university awarded 313 bachelor’s degrees across 15 fields of study. The field awarding the most degrees was business and management, with 27 out of every 100 degrees—no other field comes close, but it does not account for the majority either. This counts degrees awarded in one year, not people or the current catalog of majors. Before deciding, ask specifically about the major that interests your son: how many students graduated in it, how long it took them, and what the curriculum is like.
Regarding class size, the university reports 18 students per full-time-equivalent faculty member. Compared with similar schools, that ratio is in the highest quarter of the group—meaning three out of every four similar schools report a ratio that is equal or lower. This number does not tell you the actual size of a first-year class; it is an institutional ratio, not a classroom measure.
The institution also reports structured academic opportunities: study abroad, a complete program that can be taken only at night or on weekends, and several pathways related to teacher certification, including state approval of its initial certification program.
Admissions: What It Requires, Whom It Admits, and Who Actually Enrolls
Cumberland University does not have open admission. It reviews several pieces before saying yes. Of nine possible considerations, it marks three as required: the high school record, the high school GPA, and an English proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. If your son studied outside the United States or attended high school in Spanish, ask now whether that exam applies to him and what would exempt him—it is one of the things families discover late, complicating the timeline.
Other pieces are not required but are considered if you submit them: class rank, the academic course plan, the personal essay, letters of recommendation, and a formal sample of the applicant’s work. The report does not say how much weight each one carries in the final decision. The application fee is $25.
Now for the numbers nearly every family wants to see first. In the 2023 cycle, Cumberland University received 2,788 first-time undergraduate applications. Of those, 1,868 received an offer of admission: 67 out of every 100. Compared with 942 similar selective private schools, this is a common percentage, just below the middle of the group. Admission is neither guaranteed nor a lottery: the application is reviewed.
But admission is not the same as enrollment. Out of every 100 students Cumberland University admitted for the first year of 2023, only 36 ultimately enrolled there. The other 64 had an acceptance letter in hand and still chose another place. Compared with similar schools, this percentage is on the high side—at most of those schools, a smaller share of admitted students stays. When your son’s letters arrive, this number does not decide anything by itself: place the offers side by side and compare net price, major, and distance before the deposit deadline.
One fact that may ease some pressure: Cumberland University reported that it does not consider SAT or ACT scores in the admission decision, even if applicants submit them. That checkbox does not cover scholarships, placement, or other possible uses of the exam—ask about those separately, and confirm with admissions that the policy is still in effect.
And there is a transfer figure worth looking at directly, without dramatizing or hiding it. Out of every 100 first-time, full-time, bachelor’s-degree-seeking students who entered in 2017, 40 transferred to another school without completing here within the normally expected time. Compared with 542 similar schools, it is among those that see the largest proportion of students leave—at least nine out of every ten similar schools report a percentage that is equal or lower. The data says how many moved, not why, and the reason varies from family to family. But there is something almost no one notices that matters here: a student who transfers does not count as a graduate of this school, even if the student completes the degree somewhere else. Remember this when you compare graduation rates later.
The Sticker Price and What Your Family Might Actually Pay
At Cumberland University, among 114 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $16,827. Among 75 students in the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $17,891; among 32 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $23,937. For dependent students, the income band combines their parents’ income with their own.
The difference between the average for the lowest-income band (114 students) and the average for the highest-income band (32 students) is $7,110. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $17,669.
$16,827 was the average net price for the lowest-income families in academic year 2022-23. That does not mean it is what your family will pay. It helps you decide whether it is worth requesting the financial aid letter.
None of these figures is a quote for your son. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average for students receiving grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The figure that matters is the financial aid letter sent to you. In the meantime, use the net price calculator on the school’s website.
How Students Pay: Grants, Loans, and Options
At Cumberland University, the number of students receiving some type of grant or financial aid reaches the ceiling: practically 100 out of every 100 degree-seeking students. Among those who received it, the annual average was $21,577. That is real money, but it is not a price: that average includes people who received much more and people who received much less. What matters is not the size of the discount but the number left afterward: request that in writing, school by school.
Out of every 100 students, 39 received a Pell Grant, the federal aid for low-income families.
Regarding loans, 25 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal student loan in the 2022-23 school year. Compared with 942 similar schools, federal loans are used less here than at almost all of them—nine out of every ten similar schools had a higher proportion of students with debt. Among those who did borrow, each borrowed an average of $6,180 that year. This amount covers only federal loans in the student’s name for one year: it does not include Parent PLUS loans that parents sometimes take out, bank debt, or the accumulated debt with which someone graduates after several years. That total figure is not in this report.
The institution also reports offering an installment tuition payment plan and participating in a Promise program.
Campus Life, Learning Format, and Available Support
Cumberland University has its own housing, with a reported capacity of 625 students on or off campus. It does not require all first-time, full-time students to live there—which does not mean that no program has such a requirement. It also offers meal plans with a fixed number of meals per week in its largest option. Before removing room and board from your budget on the assumption that your son would live at home, request in writing the rule that applies to his program and year, the housing application deadline, and whether he is guaranteed a place or placed on a waiting list.
Regarding ROTC, in its most recent report, Cumberland University did not mark any ROTC opportunity, either the general checkbox or any of the three military branches. Of the four-year institutions in this guide, 926 out of 1,786 did mark it; this one was not among them. Its not being marked does not prove that no nearby pathway exists—if that scholarship matters to your family, ask admissions directly before ruling it out.
In sports, it does compete at the intercollegiate level and is affiliated with the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), with reported membership in football, basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track and field. This does not tell you whether there is a place on the team for your son or whether his sport offers a scholarship—ask the coach directly, and request the answer in writing.
Regarding learning format, it offers distance education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, although only 5 out of every 100 undergraduate students take all their classes that way; the rest take at least one class in person. The university also reported having at least one complete program that can be finished entirely through distance education—confirm the exact level and major if this interests your son.
The library operates with employed staff, has physical and digital materials, and offers interlibrary lending. The institution also reports the following services and support: combined academic and career counseling, employment services for current students, placement services for graduates, participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program for veterans, and a webpage for disability services.
How Many Stay and How Many Graduate
This is perhaps the section most worth reading slowly, because the numbers are not simple and should not be oversimplified.
Of the cohort of first-time, full-time students who entered in the fall of 2022—230 people—143 met the official retention criterion the following year: they were still enrolled or had already graduated. That is 62 out of every 100. Compared with 930 similar schools, it falls in the lower part of the group—seven out of every ten similar schools retained a higher proportion. The report does not separate how many of those 62 are still studying from how many have already graduated, nor does it explain what happened to the rest. Not appearing as retained does not mean someone gave up: the student may have transferred, paused their studies, or had some other reason this data does not capture.
Regarding graduation, of the 209 first-time, full-time students who entered a bachelor’s degree program in 2017, 87 had a degree from this school six years later. That is 42 out of every 100. At the four-year mark, the figure falls to 30 out of every 100. Compared with 920 similar schools, it falls in the lowest quarter of the group.
Put plainly: after six years, 42 out of every 100 in that class had a bachelor’s degree from this school, and 58 did not have one from here. It is practically half and half. Remember what we saw earlier: a student who transfers and finishes somewhere else does not count as a graduate here, even if the student completed the degree. The report counts outcomes, not the reasons behind each case. Before deciding, ask what specific support the school offers for your son’s particular major and how long it normally takes to complete it.
There is a broader eight-year measurement that includes both students entering for the first time and those who already had prior postsecondary experience, attending full time or part time: from a cohort of 497 students who entered between July 2015 and June 2016, 63 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from this school by August 2023. Among Pell Grant recipients, the figure was 61 out of every 100—just 3 points below the group without Pell Grants. Within that same broad cohort, the subcohort of students who entered for the first time and attended full time—a stricter measurement—falls to 52 out of every 100, eleven points below the broad count. And 16 out of every 100 are reported as having unknown enrollment status—which does not mean they were not studying elsewhere, only that the report was unable to determine their status.
None of these institutional figures predicts what will happen to your son. From different angles, they describe what happened to entire classes of students at this school.
What You Can Do With All of This
You now know, in considerable depth, one of the three pieces you need to decide: what Cumberland University really is and offers, according to its own reports to the United States government. You still need to combine that with what your son wants to study and what your family can truly afford, not the sticker price.
Your son’s job is to research the exact major, write the essay, request his letters, and decide whether this feels like his place. Your job is to complete the FAFSA, request the financial aid letter in writing, compare the actual net price among the schools on his list, and ask what this article cannot answer: what it feels like to be Latino on that campus today, whether there is a place on the team that interests him, or what happens with his ROTC scholarship if that matters in your household.
No figure in this article tells you whether Cumberland University is the right school for your son. It tells you, as clearly as possible, where this university stands compared with similar institutions. With that, and with what only you and your son know about yourselves, you can build a plan.
Source note: the information in this article comes from official reports by United States institutions of higher education, compiled through IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and the United States Department of Education, corresponding primarily to the years 2022-23 and 2023-24, depending on the indicator. Best College Aid does not represent Cumberland University or any government agency; this piece organizes and explains public data and does not constitute personalized admissions advice.