Harvey Mudd College
Private College in Claremont, CA. Six-year graduation rate 92%. Median 10-year earnings $138,687.
Students who entered Harvey Mudd College reach a median of $138,687 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 92% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation is $25,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.9% 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 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 92% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 13% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 13% of applicants receive an offer. 5,094 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. About 36% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Score ranges below describe the middle half of score submitters among enrolled first-years; students who applied test-optional are not represented in them.
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 | 730–770 | 119 (52%) |
| SAT Math | 770–800 | |
| ACT Composite | 34–36 | 36 (16%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Harvey Mudd College →Academics
92% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 96%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 8:1, 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. This is a small school — 949 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 915 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $43,966 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $27,979 while those at $110k+ pay $50,665. 65% of students receive grant aid, averaging $44,232 — common but not automatic. About 34% 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 · 224 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 | $27,979 |
| $30–48k | $23,883 |
| $48–75k | $17,968 |
| $75–110k | $25,468 |
| $110k+ | $50,665 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 313 of these 915 students, totalling $1,947,032 — an average of $6,221 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)