Mount Holyoke College
Private College in South Hadley, MA. Six-year graduation rate 84%. Median 10-year earnings $58,418.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $58,418 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate of 84% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $22,902 in debt — in line with the national norm. It also moves people — 2.6% 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 84% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Mount Holyoke College admits 36% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in three applicants are turned away. The applicant pool runs to 5,226, typical for a school of this reach. 27% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 14% 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 | 710–760 | 69 (14%) |
| SAT Math | 670–770 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–35 | 11 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Mount Holyoke College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 84% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 89%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 2,202 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,194 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $32,526 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. The income table below is the number that matters — $10,882 at $0–30k versus $38,561 at $110k+. About 80% get grants averaging $48,448, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 44% 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 · 587 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 | $10,882 |
| $30–48k | $9,526 |
| $48–75k | $17,394 |
| $75–110k | $24,247 |
| $110k+ | $38,561 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 958 of these 2,194 students, totalling $4,930,411 — an average of $5,147 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hampshire 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)