Claremont McKenna College
Private College in Claremont, CA. Six-year graduation rate 91%. Median 10-year earnings $104,736.
A decade after enrolling, the median Claremont McKenna College student earns $104,736 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 91% of students finish within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $13,500. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.0% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.13 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 91% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 10% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 10% of applicants receive an offer. The applicant pool runs to 6,529, typical for a school of this reach. A 54% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. 26% 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 | 720–770 | 87 (26%) |
| SAT Math | 750–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 45 (13%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Claremont McKenna College →Academics
A 91% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 98% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The 8:1 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. This is a small school — 1,381 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,379 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $33,895 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,308 while those at $110k+ pay $52,295. About 51% get grants averaging $52,973, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Only 21% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
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 · 321 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 | $15,308 |
| $30–48k | $7,360 |
| $48–75k | $16,389 |
| $75–110k | $19,325 |
| $110k+ | $52,295 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 289 of these 1,379 students, totalling $1,449,699 — an average of $5,016 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)