University at Buffalo
Public Research University in Buffalo, NY. Six-year graduation rate 75%. Median 10-year earnings $70,814.
A decade after enrolling, the median University at Buffalo student earns $70,814 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 75% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $19,000, neither a bargain nor a burden. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 3.5% of students move 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)
- ✓ Graduation rate 75% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
University at Buffalo accepts 74% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 40,856 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 14% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 28% 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 | 600–680 | 1,161 (28%) |
| SAT Math | 610–700 | |
| ACT Composite | 27–32 | 107 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University at Buffalo →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 75% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Transfer-out runs to 14% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The part-time picture is harder: 42% return, against 85% full-time. At 11:1, 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 20,284 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $20,529 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $14,668 while those at $110k+ pay $28,079. About 61% get grants averaging $10,096, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 40% of students.
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 · 4,252 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 | $14,668 |
| $30–48k | $16,585 |
| $48–75k | $21,262 |
| $75–110k | $24,117 |
| $110k+ | $28,079 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 8,131 of these 20,284 students, totalling $50,795,262 — an average of $6,247 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Erie 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)