University of Dayton
Private Research University in Dayton, OH. Six-year graduation rate 80%. Median 10-year earnings $75,537.
A decade after enrolling, the median University of Dayton student earns $75,537 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 80% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.31 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 80% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.6 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 65% puts University of Dayton on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 21,981 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. 9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 600–690 | 152 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 600–690 | |
| ACT Composite | 25–31 | 457 (27%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Dayton →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 80% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 89% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 18% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 8,099 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $32,794 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $21,736 at the $0–30k band to $33,731 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 93% of students receive it, averaging $33,459. 41% 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 · 1,893 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 | $21,736 |
| $30–48k | $21,595 |
| $48–75k | $24,155 |
| $75–110k | $26,871 |
| $110k+ | $33,731 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,306 of these 8,099 students, totalling $31,601,132 — an average of $9,559 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Montgomery 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)