The University
of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Public Research University in Edinburg, TX. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $49,620.
Ten years after entry, the median The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley student earns $49,620 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 51%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $12,950, a light load against those earnings. It also moves people — 7.6% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Mobility score 7.6 — top quartile among US colleges
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley admits 94% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. The applicant pool is large — 18,377 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield is high — 41% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate. The score bands below rest on the 27% 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 | 460–560 | 1,830 (27%) |
| SAT Math | 420–530 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–21 | 1,532 (23%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 51%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention is strong at 81%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 18% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 62% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 27,020 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $5,282 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The income table below is the number that matters — $3,785 at $0–30k versus $13,782 at $110k+. 81% of students receive grant aid, averaging $9,248 — common but not automatic. 26% 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 · 4,376 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 | $3,785 |
| $30–48k | $3,877 |
| $48–75k | $5,665 |
| $75–110k | $7,972 |
| $110k+ | $13,782 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 7,076 of these 27,020 students, totalling $35,030,117 — an average of $4,951 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hidalgo 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)