undergradly.
Public College

Eastern Connecticut
State University

Public College in Willimantic, CT. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $56,469.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Eastern Connecticut State University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$56,469
Median debt at grad
$24,250
Mobility score
0.9
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
57.5%
Federal loan default
0%

The median ten-year earnings figure of $56,469 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 58%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $24,250 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.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented

Admissions

Acceptance rate
83%
Applicants
6,491
Yield rate
15.0%

83% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 6,491, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 15%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 18% 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 540–650 147 (18%)
SAT Math 530–610
ACT Composite

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Eastern Connecticut State University →

Academics

Full-time retention
84%
Transfer-out rate
27%
Student:faculty
15:1

58% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention of 84% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. 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. 27% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 15:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$21,512
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
86%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
55%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,377 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $21,512 annually once grants are applied. Net price varies modestly by income — $17,654 at $0–30k against $24,346 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is widespread — 86% of students receive it, averaging $9,349. 55% 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.

% receiving grants
94%
Average grant
$10,480

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 613 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 $17,654
$30–48k $16,943
$48–75k $19,340
$75–110k $21,109
$110k+ $24,346

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,849 of these 3,377 students, totalling $11,919,011 — an average of $6,446 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,287/mo
1 bedroom
$1,496/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,866/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
102
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Eastern Connecticut State University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Eastern Connecticut State University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →