Hood College
Private College in Frederick, MD. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $57,089.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $57,089 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 57% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.8% 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
78% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 3,352, typical for a school of this reach. Only 12% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Hood College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 57%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 68% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Transfer-out runs to 29% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,202 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $23,350 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $12,424 at $0–30k versus $29,078 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $37,318 on average. 68% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 303 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 | $12,424 |
| $30–48k | $14,454 |
| $48–75k | $19,837 |
| $75–110k | $23,638 |
| $110k+ | $29,078 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 819 of these 1,202 students, totalling $8,089,868 — an average of $9,878 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Frederick County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)