Bucknell University
Private College in Lewisburg, PA. Six-year graduation rate 86%. Median 10-year earnings $93,807.
A decade after enrolling, the median Bucknell University student earns $93,807 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 86% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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 86% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 29% of applicants are offered a place. 11,377 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. 30% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 29% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 650–730 | 283 (29%) |
| SAT Math | 660–740 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–33 | 96 (10%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Bucknell University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 86% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 94% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 9:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 3,846 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,818 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $39,003 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $20,980 at the $0–30k band to $55,724 at $110k+. About 60% get grants averaging $43,902, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 35% 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 · 1,030 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 | $20,980 |
| $30–48k | $12,276 |
| $48–75k | $23,679 |
| $75–110k | $28,165 |
| $110k+ | $55,724 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,333 of these 3,818 students, totalling $8,515,936 — an average of $6,389 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Union 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)