Pontifical Catholic
University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo
Private College in Arecibo, PR. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $24,908.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $24,908, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 54%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $15,500.
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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.62 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 94%, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo takes nearly everyone who applies. With 193 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. Yield is low at 17%, 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 Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo →Academics
Completion is middling: 54% finish inside six years. First-year retention of 87% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest 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. A 10:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 273 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $11,117 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price varies modestly by income — $10,939 at $0–30k against $15,333 at $48–75k — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 91% of students get grant aid averaging $8,261, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 27% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 24 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 | $10,939 |
| $30–48k | $10,883 |
| $48–75k | $15,333 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 74 of these 273 students, totalling $446,484 — an average of $6,034 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Arecibo Municipio) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026