Bard College
Private College in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $46,543.
Students who entered Bard College land at a median of $46,543 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 68% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,254, 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
Admissions
At 52%, the acceptance rate makes Bard College a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 7,583 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 13% 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 | 650–750 | 66 (13%) |
| SAT Math | 620–700 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–32 | 46 (9%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Bard College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 68% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The 9:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. 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 2,280 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $29,320 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $19,012 at $0–30k versus $44,873 at $110k+. About 61% get grants averaging $55,642, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 34% 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 · 402 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 | $19,012 |
| $30–48k | $21,038 |
| $48–75k | $22,139 |
| $75–110k | $28,185 |
| $110k+ | $44,873 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 777 of these 2,280 students, totalling $4,917,009 — an average of $6,328 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dutchess 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)