Elmhurst University
Private College in Elmhurst, IL. Six-year graduation rate 70%. Median 10-year earnings $61,462.
A decade after enrolling, the median Elmhurst University student earns $61,462 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 70% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,489, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
74% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 6,245, typical for a school of this reach. A 13% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 23% 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 | 510–640 | 135 (23%) |
| SAT Math | 480–620 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–30 | 29 (5%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Elmhurst University →Academics
70% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 80%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Transfer-out runs to 30% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 15:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,007 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $24,629 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,892 at $0–30k versus $30,232 at $110k+. 95% of students get grant aid averaging $26,807, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 80% 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 · 607 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 | $17,892 |
| $30–48k | $18,377 |
| $48–75k | $23,098 |
| $75–110k | $25,419 |
| $110k+ | $30,232 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,407 of these 3,007 students, totalling $9,186,651 — an average of $3,817 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (DuPage 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)