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Public Research University

University of
Central Florida

Public Research University in Orlando, FL. Six-year graduation rate 78%. Median 10-year earnings $58,308.

Verdict Solid outcomes
University of Central Florida · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$58,308
Median debt at grad
$18,190
Mobility score
2.6
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
78%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median University of Central Florida student earns $58,308 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate of 78% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $18,190, neither a bargain nor a burden. It also moves people — 2.6% 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.

Green Flags
  • Debt-to-income ratio 0.31 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
  • Graduation rate 78% — well above the national average
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
40%
Applicants
61,456
Yield rate
33.5%

Selectivity is real here: only 40% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool is large — 61,456 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield sits at 34% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, 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 610–680 5,690 (71%)
SAT Math 590–670
ACT Composite 25–29 2,266 (28%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at University of Central Florida →

Academics

Full-time retention
92%
Transfer-out rate
9%
Student:faculty
28:1

Six-year completion runs to 78% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. 92% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 28:1, instructor access is thin — worth probing on a campus visit. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$13,351
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
70%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
23%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 59,096 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $13,351 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $5,816 at the $0–30k band to $17,681 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 70% of students at an average of $8,105. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 23% 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.

% receiving grants
86%
Average grant
$9,704

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 7,226 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 $5,816
$30–48k $7,174
$48–75k $10,128
$75–110k $14,902
$110k+ $17,681

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 13,426 of these 59,096 students, totalling $91,486,042 — an average of $6,814 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,650/mo
1 bedroom
$1,731/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,972/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
3,111
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare University of Central Florida with peer institutions

How we evaluate University of Central Florida

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