Fordham University
Private Research University in Bronx, NY. Six-year graduation rate 82%. Median 10-year earnings $85,569.
Ten-year median earnings of $85,569 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Completion is a strength: 82% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $24,300 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 4.0% of students move from the bottom income quintile 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 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 82% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
At 59%, the acceptance rate makes Fordham University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 43,364 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 10% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 18% 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 | 660–730 | 437 (18%) |
| SAT Math | 660–750 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–33 | 160 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Fordham University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 82% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 89%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention drops to 58% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 10,239 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $48,190 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $32,474 while those at $110k+ pay $52,228. 88% of students get grant aid averaging $34,010, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 48% of students.
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 · 2,414 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 | $32,474 |
| $30–48k | $31,657 |
| $48–75k | $37,313 |
| $75–110k | $42,030 |
| $110k+ | $52,228 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,887 of these 10,239 students, totalling $31,582,769 — an average of $6,463 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bronx 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)