Hamilton College
Private College in Clinton, NY. Six-year graduation rate 91%. Median 10-year earnings $78,411.
A decade after enrolling, the median Hamilton College student earns $78,411 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 91% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $17,000 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 2.3% of students travel 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 0.22 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 91% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 14% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 14% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. 8,531 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. 39% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. 34% 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 | 720–770 | 156 (34%) |
| SAT Math | 730–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 71 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Hamilton College →Academics
A 91% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 95% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 9:1, 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. With 2,048 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,045 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,719 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $8,028 at the $0–30k band to $46,907 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 53% of students at an average of $54,173. 29% 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 · 462 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 | $8,028 |
| $30–48k | $9,489 |
| $48–75k | $10,863 |
| $75–110k | $20,614 |
| $110k+ | $46,907 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 598 of these 2,045 students, totalling $2,628,774 — an average of $4,396 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Oneida 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)