Auburn University
Public Research University in Auburn, AL. Six-year graduation rate 82%. Median 10-year earnings $65,337.
Ten-year median earnings of $65,337 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 82% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,000, 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.32 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 82% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 46% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool is large — 55,056 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield sits at 24% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 15% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 630–690 | 925 (15%) |
| SAT Math | 630–700 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 4,553 (75%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Auburn University →Academics
82% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 95% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The part-time picture is harder: 71% return, against 95% full-time. A 21:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 25,732 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $25,242 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $16,681 at the $0–30k band to $29,547 at $110k+. About 64% get grants averaging $11,030, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 27% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 5,916 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 | $16,681 |
| $30–48k | $17,627 |
| $48–75k | $20,558 |
| $75–110k | $25,808 |
| $110k+ | $29,547 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 7,026 of these 25,732 students, totalling $43,893,862 — an average of $6,247 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lee 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)