Pitzer College
Private College in Claremont, CA. Six-year graduation rate 83%. Median 10-year earnings $69,512.
Ten-year median earnings of $69,512 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 83% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $16,750, neither a bargain nor a burden. It also moves people — 2.2% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.24 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 83% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 25% of applicants are offered a place. 3,438 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. About 36% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
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 Pitzer College →Academics
A 83% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 94% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 10:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. At 1,204 undergraduates, expect a small, closely-held student body.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,191 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $34,979 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $14,535 while those at $110k+ pay $46,793. 42% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. 20% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 274 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 | $14,535 |
| $30–48k | $7,769 |
| $48–75k | $20,846 |
| $75–110k | $29,452 |
| $110k+ | $46,793 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 241 of these 1,191 students, totalling $1,145,400 — an average of $4,753 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles 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)