Butler University
Private College in Indianapolis, IN. Six-year graduation rate 79%. Median 10-year earnings $77,235.
Ten-year median earnings of $77,235 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 79% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation is $26,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.34 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 79% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 85% of applicants are accepted. 9,471 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 35% 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 | 590–680 | 367 (35%) |
| SAT Math | 570–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 193 (19%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Butler University →Academics
79% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 87%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. 17% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,383 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $38,438 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. The income table below is the number that matters — $25,278 at $0–30k versus $41,134 at $110k+. 94% of students get grant aid averaging $25,964, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 42% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 1,151 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 | $25,278 |
| $30–48k | $25,696 |
| $48–75k | $32,679 |
| $75–110k | $36,778 |
| $110k+ | $41,134 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,827 of these 4,383 students, totalling $12,149,937 — an average of $6,650 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Marion 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)