Montclair State University
Public Research University in Montclair, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $61,415.
A decade after enrolling, the median Montclair State University student earns $61,415 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. 65% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $22,000 in debt — in line with the national norm. It also moves people — 3.2% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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
Montclair State University admits 88% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool is large — 26,257 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants 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 | 480–620 | 365 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 430–590 | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Montclair State University →Academics
Completion is middling: 65% finish inside six years. Retention of 78% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 20% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 40% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 17,677 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,669 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $10,880 at $0–30k versus $25,573 at $110k+. About 68% get grants averaging $12,283, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 41% 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 · 4,019 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 | $10,880 |
| $30–48k | $11,532 |
| $48–75k | $16,388 |
| $75–110k | $22,058 |
| $110k+ | $25,573 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 7,317 of these 17,677 students, totalling $46,535,254 — an average of $6,360 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Passaic 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)