CUNY Hunter College
Public College in New York, NY. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $63,163.
Ten-year median earnings of $63,163 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 57% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $11,000. On economic mobility, 7.5% of students travel 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 0.17 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 7.5 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 54% of applicants are offered a place. 32,271 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Only 17% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 11% 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 | 550–700 | 331 (11%) |
| SAT Math | 550–720 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at CUNY Hunter College →Academics
Completion is middling: 57% finish inside six years. 78% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in five are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 27% 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. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 53% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 16,642 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $4,431 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $1,029 at $0–30k versus $12,259 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 74% of students at an average of $9,092. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 7% 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 · 3,118 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 | $1,029 |
| $30–48k | $1,935 |
| $48–75k | $6,003 |
| $75–110k | $8,810 |
| $110k+ | $12,259 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,166 of these 16,642 students, totalling $7,295,813 — an average of $6,257 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)