Duquesne University
Private Research University in Pittsburgh, PA. Six-year graduation rate 77%. Median 10-year earnings $74,742.
A decade after enrolling, the median Duquesne University student earns $74,742 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 77% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $26,244 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 77% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
84% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool is large — 12,893 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 13% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 20% 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 | 600–670 | 287 (20%) |
| SAT Math | 580–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–32 | 60 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Duquesne University →Academics
A 77% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 84%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. With 5,226 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,216 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $37,917 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $29,986 at the $0–30k band to $41,273 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 99% of students receive it, averaging $27,851. 68% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 1,473 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 | $29,986 |
| $30–48k | $31,729 |
| $48–75k | $32,102 |
| $75–110k | $35,611 |
| $110k+ | $41,273 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,524 of these 5,216 students, totalling $20,959,133 — an average of $5,948 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Allegheny 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)