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Public Research University

University of
Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus

Public Research University in Pittsburgh, PA. Six-year graduation rate 86%. Median 10-year earnings $66,125.

Verdict Solid outcomes
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$66,125
Median debt at grad
$24,250
Graduation rate
85.5%
Federal loan default
0%

A decade after enrolling, the median University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus student earns $66,125 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 86% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $24,250, 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
  • Graduation rate 86% — well above the national average
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
58%
Applicants
60,898
Yield rate
13.0%

University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus admits 58% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in five applicants are turned away. 60,898 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 13%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 40% 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 640–720 1,814 (40%)
SAT Math 640–740
ACT Composite 29–33 463 (10%)

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus →

Academics

Full-time retention
92%
Transfer-out rate
11%
Student:faculty
13:1

86% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 92% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 13:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 25,171 undergraduates puts this among the larger schools, which usually means more choice and less individual attention.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$25,223
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
58%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
45%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 20,189 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Students pay an average of $25,223 annually once grants are applied. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $14,709 at the $0–30k band to $36,008 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 58% of students at an average of $15,847. Federal borrowing reaches 45% 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
53%
Average grant
$16,494

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 4,547 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 $14,709
$30–48k $18,371
$48–75k $23,192
$75–110k $31,567
$110k+ $36,008

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 9,079 of these 20,189 students, totalling $57,727,157 — an average of $6,358 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

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

Studio
$1,001/mo
1 bedroom
$1,077/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,299/mo

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

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
595
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
Yes

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus with peer institutions

How we evaluate University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus

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