Colby-Sawyer College
Private College in New London, NH. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $46,474.
Ten years after entry, the median Colby-Sawyer College student earns $46,474 — 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. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.3% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
80% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 2,129, typical for a school of this reach. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Colby-Sawyer College →Academics
58% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. 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 766 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $27,496 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $22,456 at $0–30k, $29,679 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 91% of students receive it, averaging $11,464. 72% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 172 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 | $22,456 |
| $30–48k | $19,687 |
| $48–75k | $24,437 |
| $75–110k | $27,412 |
| $110k+ | $29,679 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 548 of these 766 students, totalling $3,703,120 — an average of $6,758 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Merrimack 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)