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Private College

Aurora University

Private College in Aurora, IL. Six-year graduation rate 60%. Median 10-year earnings $58,709.

Verdict Solid outcomes
Aurora University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$58,709
Median debt at grad
$20,318
Mobility score
1.1
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
60.3%
Federal loan default
0%

The median ten-year earnings figure of $58,709 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 60% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $20,318 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.35 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
81%
Applicants
5,384
Yield rate
15.6%

81% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 5,384, typical for a school of this reach. A 16% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 18% 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 470–580 122 (18%)
SAT Math 430–570
ACT Composite 21–29 15 (2%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Aurora University →

Academics

Full-time retention
77%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
18:1

Six-year completion sits at 60%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The student-faculty ratio is 18:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$19,053
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
96%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
48%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,021 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $19,053 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $14,525 while those at $110k+ pay $24,595. 96% of students get grant aid averaging $17,857, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 48% of students.

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.

% receiving grants
99%
Average grant
$21,513

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 826 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 $14,525
$30–48k $14,089
$48–75k $15,431
$75–110k $19,300
$110k+ $24,595

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,938 of these 4,021 students, totalling $15,322,261 — an average of $7,906 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Kane County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,480/mo
1 bedroom
$1,581/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,781/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
167
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Aurora University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Aurora University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →