University of
Northern Colorado
Public College in Greeley, CO. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $52,231.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $52,231 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 51%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,470, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 86%, University of Northern Colorado takes nearly everyone who applies. 11,127 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 13% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 22% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 278 (22%) |
| SAT Math | 460–580 | |
| ACT Composite | 21–26 | 32 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Northern Colorado →Academics
Completion is middling: 51% 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. The 32% transfer-out rate is high enough that a large share of this school's students are really passing through. The part-time picture is harder: 33% return, against 76% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 5,693 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $19,376 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $12,695 at the $0–30k band to $24,306 at $110k+. 89% of students get grant aid averaging $10,472, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 42% 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.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,214 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 | $12,695 |
| $30–48k | $13,290 |
| $48–75k | $16,038 |
| $75–110k | $18,441 |
| $110k+ | $24,306 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,414 of these 5,693 students, totalling $16,108,430 — an average of $6,673 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Weld 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)