Aquinas College
Private College in Grand Rapids, MI. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $49,584.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $49,584 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 65% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $23,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 90%, Aquinas College takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 2,193, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 12%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 44% 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 | 470–590 | 101 (44%) |
| SAT Math | 440–550 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–26 | 7 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Aquinas College →Academics
65% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 27% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,085 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $18,018 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $10,725 at the $0–30k band to $21,093 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 99% of students receive it, averaging $29,687. 71% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 295 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 | $10,725 |
| $30–48k | $11,222 |
| $48–75k | $13,594 |
| $75–110k | $15,468 |
| $110k+ | $21,093 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 766 of these 1,085 students, totalling $5,203,195 — an average of $6,793 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kent County) — 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)