Chatham University
Private College in Pittsburgh, PA. Six-year graduation rate 63%. Median 10-year earnings $52,410.
Ten years after entry, the median Chatham University student earns $52,410 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 63% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Chatham University accepts 62% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 3,446 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 22% 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 | 550–670 | 61 (22%) |
| SAT Math | 520–625 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–30 | 21 (8%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Chatham University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 63%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 28% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,252 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $31,280 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $22,675 while those at $110k+ pay $33,636. Most students get help: 97% receive grants worth $27,730 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 64% take federal loans.
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 · 331 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 | $22,675 |
| $30–48k | $24,086 |
| $48–75k | $26,051 |
| $75–110k | $30,120 |
| $110k+ | $33,636 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 797 of these 1,252 students, totalling $5,220,973 — an average of $6,551 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Allegheny 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)