Simon's Rock
at Bard College
Private Community College in Barrytown, NY. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $46,543.
Students who entered Simon's Rock at Bard College land at a median of $46,543 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. The six-year graduation rate of 68% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,254, 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Simon's Rock at Bard College admits 96% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. Only 146 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. A 54% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Simon's Rock at Bard College →Academics
A 68% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention is 77% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 6:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. As a private nonprofit four-year college, 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 234 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $41,013 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Income makes less difference than usual: $27,480 at $0–30k, $32,298 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 99% of students receive it, averaging $45,205. 44% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 102 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 | $27,480 |
| $30–48k | $41,839 |
| $48–75k | $30,051 |
| $75–110k | $24,820 |
| $110k+ | $32,298 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 103 of these 234 students, totalling $568,084 — an average of $5,515 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Berkshire 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)