Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Public Research University in New Brunswick, NJ. Six-year graduation rate 84%. Median 10-year earnings $74,479.
Ten-year median earnings of $74,479 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 84% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,500, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.7% 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 84% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 58% of applicants are offered a place. With 68,614 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. About 21% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.
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 | 650–730 | 4,109 (50%) |
| SAT Math | 660–770 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–33 | 432 (5%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Rutgers University-New Brunswick →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 84% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 93%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 82% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. As a public four-year university, 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 36,357 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $20,522 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $16,343 at the $0–30k band to $35,016 at $110k+. About 57% get grants averaging $14,892, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 35% 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 · 7,670 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 | $16,343 |
| $30–48k | $16,210 |
| $48–75k | $18,282 |
| $75–110k | $25,106 |
| $110k+ | $35,016 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 12,730 of these 36,357 students, totalling $121,903,834 — an average of $9,576 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Middlesex 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)