Elmira College
Private College in Elmira, NY. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $57,550.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $57,550 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 65%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
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
Admissions
77% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 2,674 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 6% 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 | 568–694 | 16 (6%) |
| SAT Math | 522–691 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–29 | 8 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Elmira College →Academics
Completion is middling: 65% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 70% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Transfer-out runs to 22% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. 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 583 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $23,682 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $17,392 at $0–30k versus $27,418 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $25,975 on average. 75% 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 · 162 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 | $17,392 |
| $30–48k | $16,586 |
| $48–75k | $19,938 |
| $75–110k | $23,309 |
| $110k+ | $27,418 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 439 of these 583 students, totalling $2,938,876 — an average of $6,694 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Chemung 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)