Sterling College
Private College in Craftsbury Common, VT. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $30,573.
Ten-year median earnings of $30,573 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 32% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $23,000, 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
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.75 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Admissions
Sterling College accepts 67% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. Only 69 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. Yield is low at 11%, 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 Sterling College →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 32% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. 86% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. Transfer-out runs to 16% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 7:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 66 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $21,854 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $18,533 while those at $110k+ pay $33,820. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $30,596. Federal borrowing reaches 44% 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 · 7 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 | $18,533 |
| $30–48k | $17,655 |
| $48–75k | $24,564 |
| $75–110k | $40,040 |
| $110k+ | $33,820 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 29 of these 66 students, totalling $202,401 — an average of $6,979 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orleans County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026