undergradly.
Public Research University

University at Albany

Public Research University in Albany, NY. Six-year graduation rate 61%. Median 10-year earnings $67,979.

Verdict Solid outcomes
University at Albany · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$67,979
Median debt at grad
$19,500
Mobility score
3.6
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
61.5%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered University at Albany reach a median of $67,979 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 62% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Graduates carry a median of $19,500 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 3.6% 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.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
69%
Applicants
32,442
Yield rate
12.6%

An acceptance rate of 69% puts University at Albany on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. With 32,442 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. 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 University at Albany →

Academics

Full-time retention
83%
Transfer-out rate
27%
Student:faculty
16:1

62% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention of 83% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. Transfer-out runs to 27% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$17,949
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
86%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
51%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 12,100 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $17,949 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $11,112 at $0–30k versus $24,085 at $110k+. 86% of students get grant aid averaging $10,250, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 51% 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.

% receiving grants
96%
Average grant
$11,210

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,832 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 $11,112
$30–48k $14,062
$48–75k $17,923
$75–110k $20,037
$110k+ $24,085

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 6,206 of these 12,100 students, totalling $38,955,703 — an average of $6,277 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,217/mo
1 bedroom
$1,417/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,702/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
268
Yellow Ribbon
No
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare University at Albany with peer institutions

How we evaluate University at Albany

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