-30%
First-year retention
First-year retention at Full Sail University fell 30% between 2021 and 2024 (75.9% → 53.1%).
Florida · Private for-profit · Predominantly bachelor's
Full Sail University
Winter Park, Florida. 25,195 undergraduate students. 75 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
Earnings, completion, debt, and enrollment anomalies at Full Sail University
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Full Sail University fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (3.0% → 0.0%).
+11%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Full Sail University rose 11% between 2021 and 2024 (40.0% → 44.3%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
Full Sail University earnings, debt, and completion vs. the Florida median
Each tile compares this institution to the Florida median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$38,219+20% · 6→10y
Florida median $36,288$31,917
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry49.6%-53% · '97→'24
Florida median 65.6%$14,038+359% · '97→'20
At program completion25,195+2628% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS63.8%-38% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$26,417-34% · '05→'24
out-of-state $26,417SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How Full Sail University earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings at Full Sail University
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
4.9%Median federal debt $14,038 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $38,219 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Full Sail University enrollment, completion, and debt over time
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
-53%
Full Sail University · completion · 150% fell
93.9% → 44.3%
-45%
Full Sail University · completion · 100% fell
80.7% → 44.1%
-38%
Full Sail University · retention fell
86.0% → 53.1%
+2628%
Full Sail University · undergrad enrollment rose
945 → 25,777
-34%
Full Sail University · in-state tuition fell
$40,995 → $26,906
-34%
Full Sail University · out-of-state tuition fell
$40,995 → $26,906
+359%
Full Sail University · median debt rose
$5,880 → $27,000
-100%
Full Sail University · cohort default rate fell
11.3% → 0.0%
+29%
Full Sail University · pell share rose
26.3% → 33.8%
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Full Sail University programs ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Management Information Systems and Services$85,064Computer Software and Media Applications$84,207Computer Programming$81,925Educational/Instructional Media Design$77,511Business Administration, Management and Operations$71,790Educational/Instructional Media Design$68,369Marketing$65,262Business Administration, Management and Operations$59,086Design and Applied Arts$52,770Journalism$52,002Computer Software and Media Applications$51,455Communication and Media Studies$49,929Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication$48,312Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations$46,954Design and Applied Arts$44,692Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies$43,727Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management$42,365Human Computer Interaction$42,044Business Administration, Management and Operations$41,246Marketing$41,129Music$40,303Film/Video and Photographic Arts$39,432Graphic Communications$38,544Communication and Media Studies$38,295
Showing top 24 of 30 ranked programs.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
30 Full Sail University programs with earnings, grouped by field
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 10
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS · CIP 50
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
Marketing$41,129Management Information Systems and Services$85,064Marketing$65,262Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations$46,954Business Administration, Management and Operations$41,246Business Administration, Management and Operations$59,086Business Administration, Management and Operations$71,790
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Full Sail University
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$86,727
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 18
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $31,833
- HS-only baseline · FL
- $35,400
- Years to complete
- 1
- CIP family
- 09
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Institutions similar to Full Sail University in Florida
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Full Sail University graduates earn $X” — not “Full Sail University makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Full Sail University caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.