University of Dubuque
Private College in Dubuque, IA. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $51,190.
Students who entered University of Dubuque land at a median of $51,190 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. Six-year completion sits at 40%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Graduates carry a median of $25,750 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 89%, University of Dubuque takes nearly everyone who applies. With 1,486 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. About 23% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 16% 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 | 490–610 | 50 (16%) |
| SAT Math | 490–610 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–24 | 94 (31%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Dubuque →Academics
Completion is middling: 40% finish inside six years. Retention of 77% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. The 45% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. At 10:1, 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 1,473 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $26,067 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($18,106 versus $25,908), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 92% receive grants worth $24,637 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 70% take federal loans.
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 · 320 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 | $18,106 |
| $30–48k | $19,318 |
| $48–75k | $19,480 |
| $75–110k | $24,660 |
| $110k+ | $25,908 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,036 of these 1,473 students, totalling $8,036,447 — an average of $7,757 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Dubuque 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)