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Public College

Plymouth State University

Public College in Plymouth, NH. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $57,304.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Plymouth State University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$57,304
Median debt at grad
$26,000
Mobility score
1.1
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
52%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Plymouth State University land at a median of $57,304 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate is 52%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $26,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
88%
Applicants
6,878
Yield rate
13.7%

Plymouth State University admits 88% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool runs to 6,878, typical for a school of this reach. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.

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 Plymouth State University →

Academics

Full-time retention
68%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
15:1

52% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 68% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 15:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$20,183
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
95%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
70%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,298 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price after grant aid is $20,183 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $14,676 at $0–30k versus $23,020 at $110k+. 95% of students get grant aid averaging $10,614, 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.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$11,039

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 982 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 $14,676
$30–48k $14,714
$48–75k $17,030
$75–110k $21,157
$110k+ $23,020

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 2,306 of these 3,298 students, totalling $14,604,188 — an average of $6,333 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Grafton County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,445/mo
1 bedroom
$1,455/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,909/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
104
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Plymouth State University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Plymouth State University

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →