CUNY Lehman College
Public College in Bronx, NY. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $58,013.
Ten years after entry, the median CUNY Lehman College student earns $58,013 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Six-year completion sits at 51%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,950. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 10.2% 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 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 10.2 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
CUNY Lehman College admits 57% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. The applicant pool is large — 22,347 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 4% 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 | 440–590 | 61 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 410–560 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at CUNY Lehman College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 51%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 73% — 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. A 21% 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. Retention drops to 58% 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 10,438 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $3,961 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 — $1,589 at $0–30k versus $13,600 at $110k+. 78% of students receive grant aid, averaging $8,384 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 13% 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 · 1,364 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 | $1,589 |
| $30–48k | $2,374 |
| $48–75k | $6,834 |
| $75–110k | $9,696 |
| $110k+ | $13,600 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,308 of these 10,438 students, totalling $8,392,076 — an average of $6,416 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bronx 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)