Nazareth University
Private College in Rochester, NY. Six-year graduation rate 73%. Median 10-year earnings $56,458.
Students who entered Nazareth University land at a median of $56,458 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate of 73% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,038, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 75% puts Nazareth University on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 5,102 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 9% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 530–650 | 40 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 540–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–32 | 7 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Nazareth University →Academics
A 73% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 22% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 8:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,892 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $30,785 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $22,796 at the $0–30k band to $34,267 at $110k+. 98% of students get grant aid averaging $24,680, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 70% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 461 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 | $22,796 |
| $30–48k | $22,827 |
| $48–75k | $25,663 |
| $75–110k | $31,634 |
| $110k+ | $34,267 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,326 of these 1,892 students, totalling $8,656,625 — an average of $6,528 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Monroe 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)