University of
New Orleans
Public Research University in New Orleans, LA. Six-year graduation rate 38%. Median 10-year earnings $47,872.
Ten years after entry, the median University of New Orleans student earns $47,872 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is the weak point: 38% graduate within six years. Graduates carry a median of $18,750 in debt — in line with the national norm. On economic mobility, 3.1% of students travel 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 74% puts University of New Orleans on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 7,401 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Yield is low at 18%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 6% 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 | 480–616 | 56 (6%) |
| SAT Math | 455–625 | |
| ACT Composite | 17–23 | 816 (82%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of New Orleans →Academics
Only 38% finish within six years, so roughly three in five students leave without the credential. First-year retention is 67% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. With 31% transferring out, this functions substantially as a stepping stone. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 50% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,487 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $12,258 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $11,532 at $0–30k, $17,504 at $110k+. 72% of students receive grant aid, averaging $9,760 — common but not automatic. 34% 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 · 813 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 | $11,532 |
| $30–48k | $10,506 |
| $48–75k | $13,222 |
| $75–110k | $16,942 |
| $110k+ | $17,504 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,513 of these 4,487 students, totalling $9,811,135 — an average of $6,485 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orleans Parish) — 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)