Dillard University
Private College in New Orleans, LA. Six-year graduation rate 43%. Median 10-year earnings $39,196.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $39,196, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 43% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation reaches $31,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. On economic mobility, 5.0% 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.79 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
At 42%, the acceptance rate makes Dillard University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 7,618 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 6%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 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 | 480–640 | 20 (11%) |
| SAT Math | 488–562 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–22 | 54 (30%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Dillard University →Academics
Completion is middling: 43% finish inside six years. Retention of 78% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. At 14:1, 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 1,065 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $21,842 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $19,819 at $0–30k, $27,019 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $18,791 on average. Most students borrow — 83% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 246 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 | $19,819 |
| $30–48k | $21,094 |
| $48–75k | $23,224 |
| $75–110k | $26,032 |
| $110k+ | $27,019 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 886 of these 1,065 students, totalling $10,576,587 — an average of $11,937 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orleans Parish) — 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)