CUNY York College
Public College in Jamaica, NY. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $56,945.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $56,945 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 32% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Median debt at graduation is $11,000, a light load against those earnings. On economic mobility, 6.8% 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 0.19 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 6.8 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Admissions
CUNY York College accepts 64% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool is large — 15,563 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Only 8% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 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 | 410–480 | 32 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 380–480 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at CUNY York College →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 32% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 57% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The 39% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. Part-time students actually return at a higher rate, 67%, which is unusual and suggests the school is built for them.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,439 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $5,131 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 — $2,861 at $0–30k versus $12,520 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 67% of students at an average of $7,991. 8% 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 · 666 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 | $2,861 |
| $30–48k | $4,161 |
| $48–75k | $7,426 |
| $75–110k | $9,383 |
| $110k+ | $12,520 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 368 of these 4,439 students, totalling $2,364,864 — an average of $6,426 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Queens 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)