Caldwell University
Private College in Caldwell, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $53,843.
Ten years after entry, the median Caldwell University student earns $53,843 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 58%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $25,000 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.5% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
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
71% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 9,364, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 9%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 24% 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 | 540–630 | 137 (24%) |
| SAT Math | 590–740 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Caldwell University →Academics
58% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 77% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 26% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. A 12:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,444 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $21,875 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $18,059 at $0–30k versus $30,449 at $110k+. Most students get help: 98% receive grants worth $30,779 on average. Most students borrow — 64% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 343 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 | $18,059 |
| $30–48k | $18,000 |
| $48–75k | $22,793 |
| $75–110k | $31,425 |
| $110k+ | $30,449 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 928 of these 1,444 students, totalling $3,665,658 — an average of $3,950 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Essex County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Settlement with U.S. Government
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)