Southern Connecticut
State University
Public College in New Haven, CT. Six-year graduation rate 50%. Median 10-year earnings $55,043.
Students who entered Southern Connecticut State University land at a median of $55,043 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 50%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $22,250, roughly typical for an undergraduate 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 91% of applicants are accepted. 8,803 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 Southern Connecticut State University →Academics
Completion is middling: 50% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 78% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 25% 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 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,180 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $19,827 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $17,736 while those at $110k+ pay $27,809. About 71% get grants averaging $8,720, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 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 · 1,211 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 | $17,736 |
| $30–48k | $18,729 |
| $48–75k | $19,437 |
| $75–110k | $22,532 |
| $110k+ | $27,809 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,535 of these 6,180 students, totalling $29,867,766 — an average of $8,449 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (South Central Connecticut Planning Region) — 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)