Sarah Lawrence College
Private College in Bronxville, NY. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $53,603.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $53,603 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate of 71% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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
Admissions
Sarah Lawrence College accepts 62% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 4,617 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 15% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 9% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 650–740 | 39 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 590–690 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–31 | 18 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Sarah Lawrence College →Academics
71% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 87% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 26% 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 10:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,468 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $43,629 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $29,876 while those at $110k+ pay $47,810. Grant aid is widespread — 88% of students receive it, averaging $37,938. About 42% 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 · 411 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 | $29,876 |
| $30–48k | $29,810 |
| $48–75k | $40,869 |
| $75–110k | $35,340 |
| $110k+ | $47,810 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 615 of these 1,468 students, totalling $3,925,829 — an average of $6,383 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Westchester 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)