Saint Mary's College
Private College in Notre Dame, IN. Six-year graduation rate 69%. Median 10-year earnings $59,354.
Students who entered Saint Mary's College land at a median of $59,354 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate of 69% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
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
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 76% puts Saint Mary's College on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 2,588 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield sits at 20% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. 33% 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 | 580–680 | 131 (33%) |
| SAT Math | 550–645 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–30 | 45 (11%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Saint Mary's College →Academics
A 69% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 88% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 19% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,399 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $27,865 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $16,760 at $0–30k versus $30,443 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $37,743. 57% 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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 420 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 | $16,760 |
| $30–48k | $18,152 |
| $48–75k | $21,014 |
| $75–110k | $23,680 |
| $110k+ | $30,443 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 798 of these 1,399 students, totalling $5,039,133 — an average of $6,315 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Joseph 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)