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Private College

Saint Ambrose University

Private College in Davenport, IA. Six-year graduation rate 61%. Median 10-year earnings $59,531.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Saint Ambrose University · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$59,531
Median debt at grad
$25,000
Mobility score
0.8
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
61%
Federal loan default
0%

The median ten-year earnings figure of $59,531 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 61%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.

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
  • ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented

Admissions

Acceptance rate
77%
Applicants
2,964
Yield rate
16.7%

Saint Ambrose University accepts 77% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,964 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 17% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 13% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.

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 490–580 51 (13%)
SAT Math 440–590
ACT Composite 20–25 38 (10%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Saint Ambrose University →

Academics

Full-time retention
76%
Transfer-out rate
30%
Student:faculty
11:1

61% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 76% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 30% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$25,345
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
94%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
65%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,101 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $25,345 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $22,037 at $0–30k, $27,807 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 94% of students receive it, averaging $24,134. 65% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.

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
$25,877

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 421 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 $22,037
$30–48k $21,729
$48–75k $22,408
$75–110k $24,776
$110k+ $27,807

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 1,360 of these 2,101 students, totalling $9,896,803 — an average of $7,277 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$817/mo
1 bedroom
$928/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,143/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
97
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Saint Ambrose University with peer institutions

How we evaluate Saint Ambrose 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 →