Oakland University
Public Research University in Rochester Hills, MI. Six-year graduation rate 58%. Median 10-year earnings $58,612.
Students who entered Oakland University land at a median of $58,612 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 58%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $22,750, 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
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 88%, Oakland University takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool is large — 17,593 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 15% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 1% 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 | 540–640 | 11 (1%) |
| SAT Math | 490–590 | |
| ACT Composite | — | 1 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Oakland University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 58%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 26% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. The part-time picture is harder: 43% return, against 78% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 12,450 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $12,208 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. The income table below is the number that matters — $4,422 at $0–30k versus $19,217 at $110k+. About 69% get grants averaging $10,046, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 38% 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 · 2,189 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 | $4,422 |
| $30–48k | $4,560 |
| $48–75k | $6,711 |
| $75–110k | $11,874 |
| $110k+ | $19,217 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,753 of these 12,450 students, totalling $31,625,133 — an average of $6,654 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Oakland 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)