Empire State University
Public College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $54,080.
Students who entered Empire State University land at a median of $54,080 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Only 40% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $18,730, neither a bargain nor a burden. It also moves people — 3.6% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.35 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 40% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. First-year retention is 66% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 21% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Retention drops to 31% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,046 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,659 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The income table below is the number that matters — $8,989 at $0–30k versus $19,679 at $110k+. About 66% get grants averaging $6,285, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 37% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 95 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 | $8,989 |
| $30–48k | $10,507 |
| $48–75k | $14,812 |
| $75–110k | $16,481 |
| $110k+ | $19,679 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,634 of these 7,046 students, totalling $23,123,008 — an average of $8,779 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Saratoga 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)