Southern New
Hampshire University
Private College in Manchester, NH. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $50,318.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $50,318 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 45%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $21,082, 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
With an acceptance rate of 100%, Southern New Hampshire University takes nearly everyone who applies. 44,306 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield sits at 38% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all.
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 New Hampshire University →Academics
Completion is middling: 45% finish inside six years. 61% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about two in five are gone before sophomore year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 19% 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. Retention drops to 40% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 156,755 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $36,501 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Income makes less difference than usual: $36,441 at $0–30k, $38,025 at $110k+. About 52% get grants averaging $3,692, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Borrowing is widespread: 59% take federal loans.
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 · 3,422 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 | $36,441 |
| $30–48k | $36,536 |
| $48–75k | $36,641 |
| $75–110k | $37,704 |
| $110k+ | $38,025 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 92,926 of these 156,755 students, totalling $667,316,967 — an average of $7,181 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Merrimack 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)