undergradly.
Public College

United States
Merchant Marine Academy

Public College in Kings Point, NY. Six-year graduation rate 82%. Median 10-year earnings $90,610.

Verdict High-return
United States Merchant Marine Academy · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$90,610
Median debt at grad
$8,833
Graduation rate
82.4%
Federal loan default
0%

A decade after enrolling, the median United States Merchant Marine Academy student earns $90,610 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 82% of students finish within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $8,833 — modest by four-year standards.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.10 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • Graduation rate 82% — well above the national average
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
34%
Applicants
1,367
Yield rate
64.1%

Selectivity is real here: only 34% of applicants are offered a place. With 1,367 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. A 64% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.

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 560–650 235 (78%)
SAT Math 550–650
ACT Composite 22–29 125 (42%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at United States Merchant Marine Academy →

Academics

Full-time retention
84%
Transfer-out rate
18%
Student:faculty
13:1

82% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 84% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 13:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$4,101
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
8%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
6%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 947 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

At $4,101 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $1,773 at $0–30k against $9,168 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Only 8% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. 6% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.

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.

% receiving grants
10%
Average grant
$5,067

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 251 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 $1,773
$30–48k $4,098
$48–75k $5,897
$75–110k $8,752
$110k+ $9,168

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 57 of these 947 students, totalling $268,182 — an average of $4,705 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Nassau County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,992/mo
1 bedroom
$2,379/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$2,747/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Compare United States Merchant Marine Academy with peer institutions

How we evaluate United States Merchant Marine Academy

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →