SUNY at
Purchase College
Public College in Purchase, NY. Six-year graduation rate 63%. Median 10-year earnings $45,092.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $45,092 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 63% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $21,067 in debt — in line with the national norm.
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
An acceptance rate of 74% puts SUNY at Purchase College on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 7,845 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 46% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 620–710 | 46 (46%) |
| SAT Math | 565–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 27–30 | 14 (14%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at SUNY at Purchase College →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 63%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention is strong at 80%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. 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 12:1 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 3,110 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $18,211 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $11,835 while those at $110k+ pay $25,428. Grant aid reaches 68% of students at an average of $10,492. 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 · 772 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 | $11,835 |
| $30–48k | $15,230 |
| $48–75k | $19,658 |
| $75–110k | $20,886 |
| $110k+ | $25,428 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,327 of these 3,110 students, totalling $8,343,885 — an average of $6,288 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Westchester 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)