Colby College
Private College in Waterville, ME. Six-year graduation rate 89%. Median 10-year earnings $80,490.
Ten-year median earnings of $80,490 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. The six-year graduation rate of 89% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $19,157, 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 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 89% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Admit rate 7% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 7% of applicants receive an offer. 19,187 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. 46% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 36% 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 | 720–760 | 224 (36%) |
| SAT Math | 740–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–34 | 98 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Colby College →Academics
89% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 94%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate population is 2,284 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,282 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,219 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $4,049 at $0–30k versus $46,511 at $110k+. Grant aid is limited — 44% of students receive any. 9% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 605 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 | $4,049 |
| $30–48k | $1,251 |
| $48–75k | $3,666 |
| $75–110k | $12,106 |
| $110k+ | $46,511 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 195 of these 2,282 students, totalling $1,219,099 — an average of $6,252 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Kennebec 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)