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Private College

Rider University

Private College in Lawrenceville, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 61%. Median 10-year earnings $62,208.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Rider University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$62,208
Median debt at grad
$26,130
Mobility score
2.2
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
61.3%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered Rider University reach a median of $62,208 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 61% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $26,130, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.2% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.

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
79%
Applicants
10,071
Yield rate
9.1%

79% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 10,071 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 9%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 12% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.

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 550–670 89 (12%)
SAT Math 550–650
ACT Composite 27–31 16 (2%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Rider University →

Academics

Full-time retention
78%
Transfer-out rate
28%
Student:faculty
14:1

61% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 28% 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. A 14:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$26,506
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
96%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
59%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,151 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Average net price after grant aid is $26,506 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $15,824 while those at $110k+ pay $31,574. Grant aid is widespread — 96% of students receive it, averaging $28,350. Most students borrow — 59% 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
$29,294

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 804 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 $15,824
$30–48k $18,090
$48–75k $22,119
$75–110k $28,445
$110k+ $31,574

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,862 of these 3,151 students, totalling $12,124,204 — an average of $6,511 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,344/mo
1 bedroom
$1,545/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,950/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

VA caution flag

Probation or Equivalent or a More Severe Status: Probation (Fails to meet agency standards for initial or renewed accreditation), Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School has an accreditation issue; School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring

GI Bill students
87
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Rider University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Rider 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 →