Fitchburg State University
Public College in Fitchburg, MA. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $53,874.
Students who entered Fitchburg State University land at a median of $53,874 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 55% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $24,239, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
Fitchburg State University admits 87% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 4,582 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 12% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 540–620 | 64 (12%) |
| SAT Math | 520–610 | |
| ACT Composite | — | 3 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Fitchburg State University →Academics
55% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 69% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 25% 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. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,831 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,340 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $10,204 while those at $110k+ pay $21,123. 73% of students receive grant aid, averaging $9,563 — common but not automatic. About 52% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 | $10,204 |
| $30–48k | $11,199 |
| $48–75k | $11,540 |
| $75–110k | $15,571 |
| $110k+ | $21,123 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,466 of these 2,831 students, totalling $9,068,077 — an average of $6,186 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Worcester 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)