St. Mary's
College of Maryland
Public College in St. Mary's City, MD. Six-year graduation rate 70%. Median 10-year earnings $60,110.
Students who entered St. Mary's College of Maryland reach a median of $60,110 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 70% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,000, 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.35 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
69% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 3,401, typical for a school of this reach. Only 17% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 27% 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 | 590–690 | 110 (27%) |
| SAT Math | 553–650 | |
| ACT Composite | 26–31 | 21 (5%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at St. Mary's College of Maryland →Academics
A 70% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 86% 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. A 23% 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. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,566 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $21,071 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $2,889 at $0–30k versus $25,173 at $110k+. 90% of students get grant aid averaging $11,270, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 43% of students.
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 · 442 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 | $2,889 |
| $30–48k | $12,053 |
| $48–75k | $15,033 |
| $75–110k | $19,796 |
| $110k+ | $25,173 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 674 of these 1,566 students, totalling $4,133,565 — an average of $6,133 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Mary's 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)