SUNY College
at Potsdam
Public College in Potsdam, NY. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $47,866.
Students who entered SUNY College at Potsdam land at a median of $47,866 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 45% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $24,250, 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
An acceptance rate of 78% puts SUNY College at Potsdam on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 4,530 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 10% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | 2 (1%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at SUNY College at Potsdam →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 45%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 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. 34% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. At 11:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,951 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $13,730 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $8,623 while those at $110k+ pay $20,041. Grant aid is widespread — 86% of students receive it, averaging $9,966. 62% 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 · 430 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 | $8,623 |
| $30–48k | $8,684 |
| $48–75k | $14,524 |
| $75–110k | $15,513 |
| $110k+ | $20,041 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,216 of these 1,951 students, totalling $7,615,802 — an average of $6,263 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (St. Lawrence 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)