The Catholic
University of America
Private Research University in Washington, DC. Six-year graduation rate 79%. Median 10-year earnings $73,250.
Students who entered The Catholic University of America reach a median of $73,250 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. Completion is a strength: 80% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,000, 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 79% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.8 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
The Catholic University of America accepts 83% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 6,714 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Only 13% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
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 The Catholic University of America →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 80% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. 87% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. A 11:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. The undergraduate population is 3,139 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 3,069 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $32,705 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $17,358 while those at $110k+ pay $37,651. 95% of students get grant aid averaging $36,791, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 49% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 860 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 | $17,358 |
| $30–48k | $17,895 |
| $48–75k | $24,723 |
| $75–110k | $28,295 |
| $110k+ | $37,651 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,500 of these 3,069 students, totalling $9,535,829 — an average of $6,357 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (District of Columbia) — 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)