SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Public College in Utica, NY. Six-year graduation rate 55%. Median 10-year earnings $64,355.
A decade after enrolling, the median SUNY Polytechnic Institute student earns $64,355 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate is 55%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $17,250 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 2.5% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
81% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool runs to 5,329, typical for a school of this reach. Only 9% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 37% 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 | 505–680 | 138 (37%) |
| SAT Math | 520–690 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–30 | 10 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at SUNY Polytechnic Institute →Academics
55% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention is 69% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 28% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 13:1, 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 1,773 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price is $14,782 a year after grant aid — low for a four-year institution, though your own figure depends on aid eligibility. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $7,442 at the $0–30k band to $20,613 at $110k+. About 82% get grants averaging $7,981, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. About 45% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 389 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 | $7,442 |
| $30–48k | $9,561 |
| $48–75k | $13,934 |
| $75–110k | $15,876 |
| $110k+ | $20,613 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 799 of these 1,773 students, totalling $4,892,645 — an average of $6,123 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Oneida 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)