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Public Research University

University of Idaho

Public Research University in Moscow, ID. Six-year graduation rate 57%. Median 10-year earnings $54,670.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
University of Idaho · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$54,670
Median debt at grad
$21,982
Mobility score
1.5
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
57.3%
Federal loan default
0%

The median ten-year earnings figure of $54,670 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. The six-year graduation rate is 57%, meaning about two in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation is $21,982, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
76%
Applicants
13,443
Yield rate
19.9%

76% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 13,443 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Only 20% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 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 500–630 1,066 (53%)
SAT Math 490–600
ACT Composite 20–26 84 (4%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

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Academics

Full-time retention
76%
Transfer-out rate
21%
Student:faculty
18:1

Completion is middling: 57% finish inside six years. First-year retention is 76% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 21% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 18% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$15,111
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
89%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
48%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,363 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $15,111 annually once grants are applied. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($11,270 versus $18,791), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 89% of students get grant aid averaging $12,295, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 48% 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
96%
Average grant
$12,568

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,825 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 $11,270
$30–48k $11,193
$48–75k $13,374
$75–110k $17,130
$110k+ $18,791

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 3,539 of these 7,363 students, totalling $22,217,528 — an average of $6,278 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$807/mo
1 bedroom
$863/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,011/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
445
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare University of Idaho with peer institutions

How we evaluate University of Idaho

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