CUNY City College
Public Research University in New York, NY. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $66,039.
A decade after enrolling, the median CUNY City College student earns $66,039 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 57% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $11,990. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 11.7% 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 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 11.7 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
60% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. With 34,322 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Only 12% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 11% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 540–700 | 271 (11%) |
| SAT Math | 530–730 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at CUNY City College →Academics
Completion is middling: 57% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 79% — 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. 25% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 64% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 11,934 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $4,664 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $1,251 at $0–30k versus $12,806 at $110k+. 78% of students receive grant aid, averaging $9,148 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 12% of students.
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 · 2,560 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 | $1,251 |
| $30–48k | $2,990 |
| $48–75k | $6,811 |
| $75–110k | $9,982 |
| $110k+ | $12,806 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,373 of these 11,934 students, totalling $8,715,144 — an average of $6,348 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (New York 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)