American University
Private Research University in Washington, DC. Six-year graduation rate 75%. Median 10-year earnings $77,370.
Students who entered American University reach a median of $77,370 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 76% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $22,750, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 75% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 62% puts American University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 17,173 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 16%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 22% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 660–740 | 366 (22%) |
| SAT Math | 620–720 | |
| ACT Composite | 29–32 | 140 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at American University →Academics
76% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 88% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,593 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $39,676 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. The income table below is the number that matters — $23,233 at $0–30k versus $53,673 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 53% of students at an average of $33,547. 39% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,848 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $23,233 |
| $30–48k | $20,444 |
| $48–75k | $26,035 |
| $75–110k | $30,063 |
| $110k+ | $53,673 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,969 of these 7,593 students, totalling $17,907,130 — an average of $6,031 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (District of Columbia) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)