New Jersey
City University
Public College in Jersey City, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $52,745.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $52,745 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Only 34% finish within six years, so roughly two in three students leave without the credential they enrolled for. Median debt at graduation is $18,500, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. It also moves people — 5.3% 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
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 98%, New Jersey City University takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 5,679, typical for a school of this reach. A 10% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class.
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 New Jersey City University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 34% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 65% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 27% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 31% 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 4,076 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $16,724 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($14,005 versus $21,596), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. About 79% get grants averaging $11,894, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 29% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 560 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 | $14,005 |
| $30–48k | $15,363 |
| $48–75k | $17,587 |
| $75–110k | $21,239 |
| $110k+ | $21,596 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,193 of these 4,076 students, totalling $8,339,801 — an average of $6,991 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hudson 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)